Star Wars Ep IX: Rise of the Grey
by nendwriter
Summary: Sequel to Star Wars Ep VIII: The New Empire. Tied to opposite sides of the Galactic War, Kylo Ren and Rey Kenobi are to face their greatest challenges yet. In their struggle to reconcile the battle between the Dark and the Light, they come to find that the balance they seek lies within. Fluffy Reylo w/ full plot & all characters. Rated M for language, violence, and sexuality/smut.
1. Intro

**Six months since the loss of BB-8 from Trora, the GALACTIC WAR between the ORDER OF ORGANA and the EMPIRE has continued to escalate. The Empire has launched numerous attacks on systems governed by the Order. While General Leia has recovered and the Order continues to grow in size and support, the Empire remains unshakable under the military guidance of GRAND ADMIRAL THRAWN as well as with the reclamation of Commander KYLO REN.**

 **Unwilling to restore her position as Senator, REY has resumed Jedi training under the legendary LUKE SKYWALKER. Accepting her as his Padawan, Luke has taught Rey more about the ways of the Light side of the Force, though he senses that part of her is still drawn towards the Dark.**

 **Though she can no longer communicate with him through their Force Bond, sensing a mysterious block in the Force between them, Rey hopes to find BEN and bring him back towards the light...**


	2. Chapter 1: Seeds of War and Friendship

"Snap, are you picking that up?" Jess Testor asked over the intercom of her X-Wing. There was some muffled static. "Snap?"

"Yeah, I'm picking it up," he returned. "One—no, now _two."_

Jess continued to watch her ship's movement scanner. "What do you think they are? Other ships on transport to Zylion 4?"

"I don't know...they're not very big, it seems. I wouldn't worry about it, but make sure your shields are up. Just in case."

Jess double-checked her ship's security features. "They're up...look, should we just go into hyperspace until we're there?" She asked. Her felt the hair on the back of her neck raise as she saw the two dots on her scanners moving steadily closer.

"No, we're nearly there. We're so close, we'd risk crashing into the planet once we dropped out of it."

" _Woah,_ Snap, what's _that?"_ Jess exclaimed, seeing a significantly larger third dot appear on the edge of her ship's scanner.

" _Stars,_ I don't know, but I don't like it. Not one bit. Just...be prepared for anything," Snap said.

"They're _not_ heading towards the planet...they're heading for _us,"_ Jess said in confused amazement. Her heart beating rapidly in her chest, Jess tightened her grip on her steering wheel as she made sure the craft was cruising at maximum speed.

Suddenly, her ship's security scanners began beeping. "Snap, they've latched onto me! They're aiming—" Jess was cut off as she veered her ship to the side just as a bright green blast shot past. She knew that blast: it was from a TIE Fighter. She hurriedly positioned her ship's lower gun backwards, using her scanners to latch onto the TIE behind her. She shot once, missing, then shot again, nicking the TIE's side panel, but it didn't do any real damage.

"Jess, my engine's been hit!" Snap exclaimed over the intercom. "I can't—" The intercom suddenly went to static.

" _Snap!"_

The TIE behind Jess shot successively at her, and she steered her vessel away as best as she could. But Jess saw on her scanners that another TIE positioned itself next to the other behind her, presumably the one that had shot Snap's ship. Both TIEs were now shooting at her, and Jess heard the hum and echo of the metal structure of her X-Wing as their blasts made contact with the edges of the ship.

The X-Wing rocked violently as a blast made contact with the left side of her ship, and a light lit up on Jess's control panel, indicating severe engine damage. " _Dammit,"_ she cursed. She continued to shoot fruitlessly at the TIEs behind her as she began to lose control of her ship, the engine on her left sparking and sputtering. "Come _on!"_ She yelled at her ship.

There was a crash to her right as the other engine was taken out completely, and her ship slowed to a stop, hovering in space. Jess watched as the two TIEs sped on either side of her, turning around and positioning themselves in front of her. She stared ahead at them, waiting anxiously for them to blast her ship to pieces, but they didn't. Her eyes dropped to the movement scanner below her, and her heart dropped in her chest as she realized that the large third vessel was just behind her.

The TIEs in front of her began to back away from her X-Wing, and a wide, dark shadow was suddenly cast over her ship. She looked up, seeing the open top of a black ship engulfing her own. _Oh, no…no..._

Jess sat helplessly in her ship as the large shuttle swallowed her own, her head flipping left and right as she found herself in a small but brightly-lit white hangar filled with Stormtroopers. They moved forward along with her X-Wing, their blasters trained on her pilot cockpit. The hangar doors ahead of of her clamped shut, and Jess gulped in a nervous breath as the hangar's gravity pulled her ship down to the floor.

The Stormtroopers were on her ship at once, prying open the top of her cockpit and dragging her out of her ship. "Let _go_ of me!" She yelled angrily. They began dragging her out of the hangar towards a dark hallway, and Jess looked forlornly back at her ruined X-Wing, seeing the rest of the hangar empty and realizing that they hadn't taken in Snap's ship. " _No!"_ She yelled, tears welling in her eyes. "Where _is_ he?" She asked the Stormtroopers around her in vain. "Where's Snap?"

"Shut up, Organa _scum,"_ one of troopers snapped.

Jess struggled futilely as they hauled her into a dark room, towards an uncomfortable looking metal chair. _Like the one Poe Dameron had described,_ Jess remembered. _They're going to torture and kill me here._

The Stormtroopers strapped her to the chair and subsequently cleared out of the dim room, the door dropping behind them. In the ensuing silence, Jess strained against the tight clamps around her arms and legs, hoping that maybe, just _maybe,_ one of them wasn't fastened properly. But none of them would budge, and Jess grew still, her heart beating heavily as she awaited her grim fate.

Jess waited for what felt like an hour before the door to her small chamber suddenly lifted, and a tall, imposing figure in long black robes traipsed into the room. He stopped a few yards before Jess and and she saw that he wore a black and chrome mask underneath his hood, prompting her to realize who this was from other's descriptions: Kylo Ren. Formerly Ben Solo, Leia Organa's son.

Jess shivered in fear as she stared at the silent and terrifying figure before her. She felt a pressure building in her mind, and she stared back confusedly at the unreadable metal mask.

"Jess Testor. An Organa pilot heading to Zylion 4, on assignment to train a new legion of pilots," Ren said at last, his voice inhumanly deep through the mask's modulator.

 _How did he know?_ She thought, and then she remembered that he could read minds. Her body grew cold with dread.

Kylo Ren took a heavy step towards her, his head tilting slightly. Jess felt greater pressure in her mind, and she winced.

"Where's Snap? Snap Wexley," she questioned nervously. _If I'm going to die, I might as well find out what happened to him._

Ren took another step forward, staring at her through his mask. "Your _friend_ is gone."

Jess shook her head in disbelief. "No... _no_ …" A tear slid down her face before she felt Ren surge into her mind further. She stared at his gloved hand as he strained it out towards her head, sifting painfully through her thoughts. Jess winced and groaned as he pushed deeper.

"Where is the Organa faction producing new ship fleets?" He questioned, stepped even closer. His straining fingers were inches from her forehead. " _Where?"_

"I don't know!" She exclaimed, gasping for air. "I'm just a pilot, I'm not involved in production!"

She yelped in pain as the pressure built in her mind.

"It doesn't have to be like this. _Where_ is it?" He demanded.

Jess hissed through her teeth, gripping the edge of the metal chair in an attempt to brace herself against the pain. "I don't _know!"_

Ren suddenly pulled out her mind, his hand lowering and his head shifting away, as if in thought. Jess breathed heavily, her head still throbbing in dull pain. "You know, you captured the wrong person. _Snap_ would have known," she hissed.

Ren's mask flashed back to face her, and he lifted his hand once again, breaking back into her mind. Jess struggled to breath against the pain as she felt him sift through more of her thoughts and memories. But she felt him bring up different ones this time.

"Leia...she's...alive…" Jess heard him murmur through the mask. She stared at his mask confusedly. "You've seen Rey…" he observed softly.

After a few long moments Ren released from her again, pacing away from her chair. She could hear his low, bothered breathing through his mask, and she grew more fearful as his arms raised at his sides, balling into fists. _This is the end,_ Jess thought. _I'm going to die at the hands of Leia's own son._

"No, you aren't," Ren said abruptly. Jess jolted, staring across at him in surprise.

"I'm not going to die?" She asked hopefully, her heart racing.

"I didn't say that," Ren said darkly, staring at her. Jess gulped. "Just not at my hands."

"No, _please—"_ she implored, her beseeching eyes following him as he swiftly left the room. She again attempted to shake out her chair, rattling the metal, but it was to no avail. Once again she was alone in the dark and silent room.

….

"Are you ready to try it out?"

Rey shaded her eyes against the bright sun, blinking across at Luke. She watched as he engaged his blue saber and took a defensive stance. Rey smiled, something she rarely did nowadays. "Yes, I'm ready."

Rey pulled her new lightsaber shaft off of the clip at her belt, holding the shiny metal before her. She switched it on, smiling again as the two brilliant yellow plasma blades ignited at both ends.

"That's a formidable weapon," Luke said admiringly. "And as shining as a ray of sun," he said, winking. "Tell me again, how did you decide you wanted a double-bladed saber?"

Rey's smile faded from her face as she remembered the truth. As she was reminded of _him._ "I...I told you, I used to fight with a staff on Jakku. So, it just makes sense," she said.

Luke moved towards her, his saber poised towards her, and Rey gripped her saber in preparation, holding it diagonally before her. Luke swung out at her, and Rey was quick to block him with one end of her saber, tilting it as she made an offensive swing of her own with the other end.

She focused on her footwork as she swung at Luke, who was smiling like a proud father as he dueled her. At one point Luke attempted to strike below her saber, and she blocked it swiftly, swinging her saber perpendicular to the ground as the bottom blade made contact with Luke's.

Luke stepped back, and Rey swung her saber overhead, bringing one side down powerfully onto the Jedi master's blue saber, the plasma hissing louder with the sudden contact. She swung her saber again at her side and then hit Luke's saber with immense force.

"That's very good," Luke said delightedly, lowering his saber after her hit. "You tend to do a lot of spinning for one of your fighting form, I've noticed," he remarked, rubbing his bearded chin.

Rey gave Luke a small smile, but she sighed, staring down at her saber. Memories of Ben's spinning, whip-lash fighting style flashed into her mind. His warm face flashed into her mind, and her mouth quivered.

"Rey?" Luke called, stepping closer to her.

Rey remembered Ben attaching a stick to the hilt of the blue saber on Drecenia. _I think you're meant to use a double-bladed lightsaber,_ his words resurfaced in her memory. She sniffed, fighting back the flood of emotions that always remained tempered just below the surface.

She jolted as she felt Luke's hand on her shoulder, and she looked across at him, her eyes watery.

"Rey, you're not thinking of _him_ again, are you?" He asked.

Rey bit her lip, sniffling again. "I can't _not,_ Luke, you know that. There's always a part of him with me, I—I can't get rid of it," she said, her voice breaking.

"I know," he said calmly. "A Force Bond will do that. It will just take _time,_ Rey, it's okay. You can _still_ be a Jedi," he said, looking at her encouragingly.

A glimmer lit up in Rey's eyes. "You think so?" She asked.

"I _know_ so. You're strong, resilient. Attachments are natural, but unhealthy ones like this are only temporary," he said, rubbing her arm and sliding his hand away from her. "Maybe we should end our training for today. Is that okay?"

Rey nodded, brushing the stray hairs out of her face.

"Go spend some time with your friends, Rey," Luke said, heading back towards the main Organa base. "As you know, they're the best medicine."

Rey waited a few moments in the large forest clearing after she watched Luke leave. She looked up at the blue sky, shading her eyes against the sun again. _Where are you, now?_ She wondered. A small part of her still held onto the hope that Ben would one day answer back. _Do you even still think of me?_

… _._

Later that afternoon, Rey was working on all fours in the colorful garden behind the small house that had been designated to her. She had taken up gardening to pass her free time and to help clear her mind. Leia even had pilots bring back new flowering seeds from other planets for her to try and plant sometimes.

"Rey! You'll never guess what happened!" She heard Finn exclaim as he bounded into the garden behind her.

Rey turned around, lifting to her knees as she smiled back at her friend. "Hey, Finn! What is it?" She asked. " _Hey—_ be careful of those!" She cautioned, pointing to the patch of yellow and blue flowers that Finn had nearly trampled.

"Oh—sorry," he said, making a wide berth around them.

Rey stood, dusting off her pants with her gloves as Finn approached. "She said yes!" He said.

"Oh, that's fantastic, Finn!" Rey exclaimed, spreading her arms wide and hugging him tightly. She released from him, smiling brightly and raising an eyebrow. "It's so good to see you! _So,_ when's your first date?" She asked.

"I—I don't know. I mean, I haven't gotten that far yet. I just was excited that she said 'yes,'" he said, his brows furrowing.

"You mean, you asked Jess out and you didn't even make _plans?"_ Rey asked, laughing.

"Well, I mean, I only saw her for a short time, on the fuel station we decided to meet at. I was heading here, of course, and she was heading to another planet, to do training with some new pilots. We didn't have a lot of time to make _plans."_

"Ah, I see," Rey said, nodding. "When will she be back?"

"In about a week, she said she only needed to be on Zylion 4 for a few days," Finn said, rubbing his arm. He gestured towards Rey. "I know it's only been a few weeks since I've seen you, but it feels like it's been forever. How are you?"

"I've been good, just continuing training with Luke. He's been great."

"And _Poe?"_ Finn asked, raising an eyebrow.

Rey frowned. "Finn, you I don't feel that way about him. And you _know_ romantic attachments are forbidden for Jedi."

"I know, I'm just kidding..." he said, his gaze turning serious for a moment. Rey sensed that he feared he had brought up a sore subject, and she smiled to reassure him. He then returned her smile, playfully knocking his fist into her arm. "That's why _I'm_ not a Jedi. Sucks for Poe, though," he said, chuckling.

"Ah, he doesn't even like me like that," Rey said, rolling her eyes.

Finn raised his eyebrows. "Of course he does," he said. "I mean, _you've_ seen the way he looks at you," he added.

Rey shifted her gaze uncomfortably, unsure of what to say. Finn was right; there was always an obvious affection in Poe's gaze. Wanting to change the subject, Rey glanced back at the unburied pack of seeds behind her, and then turned back to Finn. "Care to help?" She asked, gesturing to the seeds.

"Sure," he said with a warm smile. "Is this, like, a friendship garden?" He asked.

Rey laughed, kneeling down, and Finn followed suit. "Sure, it can be," she said, continuing to laugh as they began planting the seeds.

* * *

 _It's nice to have our original two best friends back together again, but it looks like Finn's love interest is in grave trouble. Same with Rey's! Has Ben been reverted back into Kylo Ren? Why can't he communicate with Rey, and why can't he sense his family? Will he ever return Rey's telepathic calls? Looks like something else is at play here. Or someone else. Thank you for reading!_

 _Bonus: Yes, Allan will be coming back into the story, don't worry :) I've always had plans for him. Important plans, may I add._


	3. Chapter 2: Meeting and Meditation

Luke groaned as he leaned over the large, empty hologram desk, his mind swirling with thoughts and memories. _It's times like these I wished I had another Jedi to consult,_ he thought, reflecting on his old masters, Obi-Wan and Yoda. Luke shook his head dejectedly. He rose as he sensed someone approaching, slowly turning around at their entrance into the panel room.

"Leia," he greeted, giving his sister a weary smile. She smiled back, and he embraced her as she approached. He held her in his arms as she began speaking.

"What bothers you now, Luke? I sense it," she said, pulling away from him.

"Isn't something _always_ bothering me? Us?" He asked teasingly, but she looked back at him with marked seriousness. Luke sighed heavily, his gaze drifting away. "It's Rey. She froze up again today, during training. She hasn't had an...an _episode_ for quite some time, I thought maybe she'd finally gotten over it, but…" he trailed, shaking his head.

Leia's mouth became a tight line. "Luke, did you really expect her to get over him so completely? So soon? It's only been a matter of months," she said earnestly.

"Alright, I know, I just...I thought that she would just get over their little—their _flirtation,_ whatever it was. I expected her to be able to look ahead and realize her _true_ destiny, to become a Jedi," Luke said, searching his sister's wise eyes. "I mean, especially with all of the options she has _here_ —" he said, gesturing around him— "If she really wanted a _boyfriend,_ I just don't see how _he_ could even be a distraction for her."

Leia's gaze dropped to the floor, her brows knitting together in evident pain.

" _You_ know what I mean, Leia," Luke said gently.

She met his gaze again, her chin lifting as she spoke. "You forget that _he_ is the son of Han Solo. And if he's anything like his father, which I know he _is,_ you sorely underestimate him. To whatever extent, appeal is in his _genes,"_ she said resolutely.

Luke shifted his weight, rolling his eyes. "Yeah, alright. Who am I to doubt the charm of a Solo?"

Leia smiled to herself. It appeared for a moment as if she were about to laugh, though no sound escaped her mouth. Luke sighed as he watched her, wishing he could hear her laugh once again. He couldn't remember the last time she had been carefree enough to laugh.

"Has it been...better, since you've seen him? I mean, besides him hurting you, has it been easier?" Luke asked tenderly.

Leia appeared offended. "Luke, for the last time, I told you _Ben_ didn't hurt me. It was Darth Plagueis, _Snoke,"_ she urged, stepping closer to her brother. "I _heard_ his voice in Ben's head. You know he's always been there, has always been poisoning my son's thoughts…" she shivered slightly as her gaze shifted away. She blinked hard, and then looked back up at Luke, warmth returning to her face. "But yes, it has gotten a bit easier. Especially since he showed me the truth of Han's death."

"Of course," Luke said, nodding.

"But, as I've said, Luke, I feel like I can't _sense_ Ben anymore...I know you've said you can't either, and it scares me," she said, shivering again. She looked solemnly into Luke's eyes. "But I _have_ to believe he's alive, that he's out there somewhere...he has to be, since Rey can still sense him through their bond. But _oh,_ Luke, when Ben came to me, I saw...there's so... _so_ much of his father in him. He was so handsome, it took my breath away," Leia said, her voice distant.

She pressed her hands together, as if remembering her son's touch. "Yet there was so much pain in his eyes, such _grief,_ it broke my heart. It still does. I've never seen someone so troubled, so conflicted," she said, shaking her head dejectedly. Her mouth quivered as she continued to reflect, looking down at the ground for a few moments.

Luke saw a small light develop in her eyes as she looked back up at him again. "But there's something I didn't tell you, Luke. There was something _else_ in his eyes. The light, it _was_ there, I saw it in his thoughts, I felt it so _strongly_ when I saw his thoughts in my head," she said, her voice lifting slightly.

Luke leaned forward, listening intently. "What do you mean?" What haven't you told me?"

"Luke, my boy is _sick_ with love. He's infatuated with, completely _smitten_ with Rey," Leia said, her eyes glistening.

Luke stepped back from Leia, furrowing his brows. "Leia, you're mistaken...he was only trying to seduce her to the Dark side. He doesn't _love_ her. _Trust_ me, I've read the tales of the Old Republic, there are all _sorts_ of methods and devious ways to try and persuade Jedi to the side of the Dark—"

" _No,_ Luke, I know what I saw," Leia corrected, shaking her head. "Ben wanted to teach her, yes. But he wanted to let Rey _choose_ her own path with the Force, whether that be on the side of the Dark _or_ the Light. But don't doubt me when I say that he'd do anything for her. Just because you haven't fallen in love with anyone yourself—"

"That doesn't mean I don't know what love _is,"_ Luke interrupted, but his voice was not harsh. "I _know_ love. And I would do anything for my _family._ That now includes Rey."

Leia's face contorted. "Don't forget that your family also includes your _nephew,_ no matter how 'lost' you think he is," she said, pointing a finger at him. "I know you fought with him when he returned here, but when he came to see me, there was _so_ much light in him. He isn't lost from us yet. I know you sensed it too, Brother," she said, searching his eyes. "And from what I've seen, I daresay that Rey is as in love with Ben as he is with her."

Luke frowned, opening his mouth to protest, but he was cut off by the sound of approaching footsteps. He and Leia turned around in the otherwise empty room as a military commander marched in through the wide doorway.

"Luke, Leia," the commander said, bowing slightly, "we have just received word from Zylion 4—it's urgent."

Luke and his sister exchanged solemn glances, knowing they would have to continue the dispute another day.

….

"Hey, guys!"

Rey and Finn turned around on their hands and knees to see Poe Dameron traipsing carefully through the garden toward them. He wore his orange pilot's uniform, the color nearly matching the orangish hues of the evening sky.

"Hey, Poe!" Finn exclaimed, jumping up to embrace his friend. He simultaneously kicked dirt into Rey's face as he lept up, and she sputtered, wiping the dirt from her mouth as she raised up.

" _Finn!"_ She complained.

He turned around, seeing her wiping the dark soot from her face. "Oh, _sorry,_ Rey," he said.

"Good to see you, Buddy! It's been a little while," Poe said, patting Finn's arm with a bright smile. The pilot turned around, his gaze settling on Rey. "And the little desert flower in her garden, as usual," Poe said.

"Hello, Poe," she said, smiling back at him.

He took a step towards her, studying her face with a smile. "What, did Finn try to bury you with the plants?" He asked, chuckling.

Rey wiped at her mouth again, feeling more dirt on her fingers. "Apparently," she said.

Poe smiled again as his gaze lingered. He turned around to face Finn. "I hope you had a good time patrolling out there. But, Buddy, we need you in the panel room ASAP," he said. He placed a hand on Finn's shoulder, seeming to drop his voice to prevent Rey from hearing. "It's important."

"What's important?" Rey asked, leaning towards the two.

Poe looked back at her, his eyes squinting slightly. "There's...it's just a pilot's meeting we need to go to," he said. "Nothing that important, actually."

Rey dusted the dirt off of her pants, looking back at Poe skeptically. "Okay," she said, sensing his lie.

Poe looked between Finn and Rey, and he smiled briefly back at her. "We'll see you later, then," he said.

Rey waved them off as they turned and headed back through her quaint house towards the base. She turned around and got back on her hands and knees, finishing burying the flower seeds in the dimming light of the setting sun as she thought about what their secretive meeting could be about.

A half hour later, Rey sat down at her small kitchen table, placing a tea bag into her cup of hot water. She stared down into the cup, watching as the dark tendrils swirled out from the tea bag, spreading outwards until the liquid was no longer clear. Rey traced her finger along the top of the water, wondering what kind of meeting would be held in the military panel room. It was a place that was usually saved for the most formal of strategizing meetings.

Her eyes raising up from her cup, Rey was sure that this was no ordinary meeting at all. And Poe had wanted to leave her out of it.

Carrying her tea cup with her, Rey sipped from it as she headed out of her house and towards the base.

As she eventually made it to the wide hallway that connected to the panel room, Rey crept quietly along the wall. She began to hear many different voices in the room ahead. She walked silently forward and leaned against the wall by the room. The large doors were only cracked open, and she strained to listen to the voices within.

"So we know they've been shot down?" Rey heard Admiral Ackbar ask.

"I'm sorry to break this to all of you," Rey heard Luke say, his voice grim, "but Snap Wexley's ship crashed on Zylion 4, just outside of the planet's main port city."

There were various murmurs and sighs.

"What about Jess? What happened to her?" Finn asked worriedly.

"Jess's ship was not found," Luke answered.

Rey leaned closer to the door, determined not to miss any of the conversation. She heard more sighs and disappointed moans emanating from various people.

"Then how do we know they have Jess?" Finn asked, his voice raised. "What if she escaped?"

"You know we would have heard from her. The communication with Jess's ship is still functional, as our transmission calls have gone through to it, but there has been no answer from her side," one of the military commanders said. "That, and we can still track the whereabouts of her ship, which appears to still be moving. This leads us to believe that her ship has been taken aboard an enemy vessel."

"This is in line with the reports of TIE fighters and a black transport shuttle spotted by a freight ship in the area," Luke confirmed.

"Then how do we get her back? What's our plan?" Finn asked desperately.

"I am deeply sorry, but she may already be lost to us, Finn," Leia said gently.

"Well, she may be under interrogation," Poe piped up. "But if it's the Empire, which I'm sure it is, they'll only keep you alive as long as they can get information out of you." He paused for a few moments before continuing. "Then again, the reason I'm here with all of you today is because of Finn, he saved me...So, I propose we send out a group to see if we can get her back." There were muffled sounds in agreement.

"No one else need die," Luke said. "It's too dangerous. Poe, you know how risky this would be."

"I do," Poe agreed. "It's a risk I'm willing to take. And I think it's a danger that most of us are willing to face to save our friend."

"I'm in," Finn said forcefully, and various others sounded in agreement.

"I cannot allow it," Luke said, disgruntled.

"I agree with Master Skywalker," Admiral Ackbar acceded. "We cannot risk losing some of our best pilots."

"And Jess is one of them," Poe said. "Listen, if we can manage to catch that shuttle before it meets up with the _Finalizer_ star destroyer, or whatever Empire base it's headed to, we have a big enough fleet here to take it over," he said.

"And if Kylo Ren is aboard?" One of the commanders questioned. "What then?"

Rey heard nervous murmurs and an apprehensive sound emanated from Chewbacca.

"He's just one person, one obstacle in our way," Poe said. "And it's not like he's won all of the battles he's lead against our other bases. With a big enough fleet, I don't see why we couldn't overwhelm him. Besides, maybe he still has BB-8. I _want_ my droid back."

"You seem to have forgotten the rumors we've heard previously, Poe," Luke said darkly. "He's powerful. You have personal experience of what he can do."

"I don't care if he's a Sith," Poe protested. "Hell, he could be Darth Plagueis himself. We've still got to _try."_

Rey nearly dropped her cup as she heard Poe's words. _Ben, a Sith?_ she thought, taken aback. _Ben couldn't be a Sith. The rumors are false._ She heard a mix of voices as people began to fall into dispute. After a few minutes, she heard Luke's voice rise above the others.

"No," he said, and everyone grew quiet. "And that is my final answer. It is simply _too dangerous."_

The people began to talk amongst themselves again, and Rey began tiptoeing backwards as she heard footsteps nearing the door. Rey's eyes widened as the door opened and Leia slipped through, closing the it behind her. Leia's eyebrows rose as she saw Rey, and she stepped towards her.

"I thought I sensed you nearby," she said, giving Rey a small smile. "How much of that did you hear?"

"Enough," Rey said, watching Leia carefully.

Leia placed a hand on Rey's arm. "Let's leave, before they see you here. Luke didn't want to worry you with all of this," she said, leading Rey out of the hall.

"You mean, he didn't want me to hear about _Ben._ To be reminded of him," Rey said, her voice dropping.

Leia sighed. "I'm sure that's part of it."

As they entered the front entrance of the base, the moonlight shining through the large entry windows, Rey turned to face Leia. "What do you think they're going to do?" Rey asked.

Leia shrugged, sighing. "You heard Luke," she said. Her eyes then narrowed as she gazed at Rey, a small smile forming on her mouth.

Rey watched Leia carefully. "Do you think Poe, Finn, the other pilots—do you think they'll try to rescue Jess and BB-8 anyways?" She asked.

" _You_ know your friends," Leia said, her smile turning sly. "And I know _you."_

Rey blinked, surprised at the Leia's keen insight. She was about to smile, but her face dropped as she remembered Poe's words about Ben. "Leia, do you think...do you really believe Ben could have turned completely to the Dark side?" She asked.

Leia stepped closer to Rey, studying her face. "My dear, I don't think I need to answer that question for you. You already _know_ the answer. Don't you still feel him through your bond?" Rey nodded. "As you know, I was never trained as a Jedi. But I've always sensed the Force, and I know you have too. It has guided both of us through our lives. Whatever you feel, whatever you sense through your bond with my son, _that_ is the truth. I wouldn't listen to what anyone else says." She smiled, placing her hand on Rey's cheek in a motherly gesture.

She then turned to head back down the hallway, but stopped, looking back at Rey. "And if you _were_ to decide to go against Luke's decision...well, Maz could perhaps help with supplying you a ship to bring the others home in," she said, and walked away. Rey was left wondering if by 'the others' Leia did not just mean Jess and BB-8, but also Ben himself.

….

The room was empty and dark where Kylo Ren sat, attempting to meditate and focus his Force energy. His mask off, he leaned his head forward into his hands as stared at the ground below. He didn't meditate as often as he once had; now, he usually grew too restless to concentrate for very long. There was always something tugging at the edges of his consciousness, a lingering but distant presence.

Kylo had developed a growing attitude of nihilism over the past months, taking in orders blindly from Grand Admiral Thrawn, some of which were passed down from Snoke. The Supreme Leader himself hadn't bothered to come to Kylo in the flesh again after putting him through the final stage of his training four months ago; now, Snoke only appeared to him through a hologram, and even that was rare.

Kylo knew that he was being used as a weapon again, a mere attack animal, but he went along with it. The "reconditioning" he had been put through months ago, as Thrawn had called it, had consisted mainly of a long series of painful torture methods, psychological oppression, and emotional dissociation from his past, though Kylo didn't consciously remember most of what Thrawn had put him through. Again, Kylo's real name had been banned within the Empire, and he was surprised how difficult it had been to bring himself to pick his false name back up.

But he _did_ remember, deep in the archives of his mind, that this was all for Rey, the girl, the light that he seemed to have last seen so very long ago. Kylo remembered that as long he dissociated from her, and as long as she stayed away from him, she would remain out of reach of Snoke. She would remain where she belonged, protected by the Order of Organa.

In the various small-scale battles he had directed in the past few months against the Order, Kylo was strategic in his maneuvers, in his direction of the ill-fated Stormtroopers: though he sorely hated losing, some battles he purposefully lost, and others he won in order to keep both Thrawn and Snoke under the impression that he was completely reconditioned and molded to their will.

But sometimes while he was completely alone, such as now, Kylo wondered if he actually _was_. He even wondered at times if that light in his life that had been _Rey_ had merely been a dream, a hallucination he dreamt up as a coping mechanism under Thrawn's torture and mental manipulation. Had she ever actually been _real?_ As time passed, Kylo was increasingly unsure.

He felt so disjointed from his own emotions, from reality, from his own sense of _self_ that he wondered if he were becoming the unfeeling machine that Thrawn and Snoke treated him as. Kylo had little respite from the militant lifestyle he had been forced to lead.

However, there _was_ something that halted his emotional depravity and the nagging idea that Rey had been an invention of his mind.

As he sat in the silent meditation chamber, Kylo suddenly jolted as he heard familiar beeping from the other side of the door. He flicked his hand upward, and the chamber door lifted, revealing BB-8. The droid beeped in greeting as it rolled towards Kylo, the door dropping behind it.

After Kylo's capture six months ago, the Stormtroopers had fruitlessly searched the stubborn droid for information about the Order of Organa. Kylo had ordered them from destroying it, deciding to keep it for his own use after his reconditioning. He kept the droid because it had once been with Rey, and it served as a reminder, a testament to him that Rey _wasn't_ someone he just had made up, that she was real, that the presence he sensed in his very core was _her._ Kylo had even gotten the droid to tell him some stories of its time with Rey.

Kylo gave BB-8 free reign of the command shuttle, and it ambled about the vessel at its own leisure, usually stirring up trouble. Though the droid had vehemently detested him at first, accusing him of kidnapping and shocking his leg regularly, the droid had slowly grown to tolerate him, as he treated it well.

"What do you want?" Kylo asked the droid as it rolled into his meditation room.

BB-8 beeped in succession.

"That's none of your business," Kylo responded. He watched the droid as its small head dropped. It lifted its head slightly, looking back up at him quickly before dropping its head even lower, releasing a small dejected sound.

"I can't let you talk to her," Kylo said.

BB-8 whined out a response, raising its head.

"That pilot is an _enemy_ to the Empire, so _no,_ we will not let her go," Kylo responded. "She has to be executed."

The droid shook in protest before rolling forward, silently staring up at him as it wavered in place.

"What?" Kylo asked, impatient.

BB-8 tilted its head and bleeped slyly.

Kylo shifted his jaw as he looked away from the droid, not wanting it to read his expression. But the droid knew him well, and it continued to press on in its line of persuasion. Kylo glanced back at BB-8, and the droid tilted its head slightly, waiting for his response.

Kylo sighed heavily, rubbing his temples with his hands. _What has my life come to?_ He thought. His only form of civil social interaction was with a _droid,_ yet as much as he hated admitting it to himself, he had developed a foolish attachment to it. It was the closest thing he had to a friend.

Kylo frowned down at the robot, irked by its consistent ability to manipulate and persuade him. "I'm not going to make any promises," Kylo finally said, and BB-8 beeped happily. From very early on, the droid had been able to figure out his weaknesses. Despite Kylo's indefinite answer, it knew that he had caved.

BB-8 rolled forward and bumped against Kylo's shin, beeping.

"Not now. Later," Kylo said, pushing BB-8 away, and it rolled backwards. He rose from his seat, glancing down at BB-8 as he began making his way out of the room, not bothering to put his mask back on.

Kylo no longer minded if his inferiors saw his face; they still shriveled in fear from him, knowing his power. He felt that he had an imposing enough appearance, especially with the scar that Rey had given him.

The droid rolled after Kylo as he stalked down the hallway of his ship to check in on the pilot's quarters. Despite the fact that there were commanders who manned the vessel, the pilot in him compelled Kylo to remain at the helm and oversee the ship's controls.

* * *

Sorry this one took a while to finish! I'll be churning out the next few chapters in a more timely manner. I'm excited to bring more of BB-8 into this story. I mean he's so cute, how could I not? Thanks for reading Padawans, and thanks for your patience!


	4. Chapter 3: Covert Plans

As usual, Rey got up early the next morning and trained with Luke until the early afternoon. Since Luke had taken her the previous month to extract her own Kyber crystal and had shown her how to construct her lightsaber around it, the majority of the day's training session was spent dueling with the sabers.

At the end of the day's training, when both Luke and Rey were heaving for breath and covered in sweat, Luke disengaged his saber and nodded towards her.

"You're a natural with that. A talented fighter. You know, I remember your grandfather had told me he'd dueled with a staff before. I guess that form of fighting is in your genes," he said, smiling admiringly at her.

Rey smiled back, eyeing the glowing yellow ends of her saber.

She loved hearing Luke's stories of Ben Kenobi, even though his time with him had been so brief. She wished Luke had as much to say of her own parents, about which he had told her surprisingly little. She knew her father had been a Jedi and a skilled pilot, and had fought alongside Kes Dameron, Poe's father. But Luke didn't ever seem to have much to say about her mother.

"Your parents and grandfather would be proud of you, Rey," Luke said. "You were born to be a Jedi."

Rey laughed softly. "We'll see," she said, she said, her smile fading as she hoped he wouldn't be too disappointed when he found out she would be sneaking off the planet to try and save Jess and BB-8. She disengaged her saber as she followed Luke out of the forest clearing.

….

After she had taken a quick shower at her house, Rey changed into her grey vest, arm wraps, and pants, the same clothes she'd worn when she'd first gone to see Luke. After quickly fixing her hair into her usual three buns, she headed straight for the main Organa base to search for Poe and Finn.

She searched behind the base where the pilots' accommodations were, but she didn't see either of them. _Have they already left?_ She wondered, suddenly alarmed.

She came to the base's large tarmac, and she jogged along the middle of the lines of the X-wing starfighters. Rey tried to repress the memory of when she'd been running after Ben many months ago, as he'd lifted up from the tarmac in Poe's X-wing along with BB-8.

As she reached the middle of the tarmac, she saw the familiar form of a brown-haired man crouched under an X-wing a few yards ahead of her. "Poe!" She called, jogging towards him.

He turned and rose out from under the ship, smiling brightly at her as she approached. "Rey," He greeted, wiping the grease and soot from his face. "Where's the fire?" He teased, chuckling at her haste.

"Poe, I need to talk to you—" she began, looking around them to make sure they were alone. "I know about Jess, that she was captured by the Empire."

Poe raised his eyebrows. "How...did you—"

"I listened in on the meeting last night," Rey interrupted. "I heard everything. You and Finn planning on going to rescue her, right?" She asked, lowering her voice.

Poe's brows rose again as he studied her face, clearly taken aback. "Well...yeah," he admitted, craning his head.

"You need to fill me in, I'm coming with you," Rey said matter-of-factly.

"Rey, it's too dangerous," he said, shaking his head. "We're taking a small squadron out, but— _you_ need to stay here _,_ to train with Luke."

Rey shook her head. "I'm not letting you and Finn go without me. I'm a _Jedi,_ Poe, I can help if there's trouble."

Poe shook his head again, looking at her concernedly. "It's way too much of a risk, Rey, I can't let you be put in danger like that."

"I can handle myself just _fine,"_ Rey said defensively, exasperated at people always wanting to protect her. "You don't need to worry about me. I can protect myself," she said, gesturing down to the lightsaber hilt at her belt.

Poe's eyes remained on the hilt of her saber as he seemed to consider. He sighed, his eyes raising to hers, and Rey sensed that he didn't want to argue with her. They both turned as they heard approaching footsteps. Rey smiled as she saw Finn approaching, but he looked serious, and she knew he was worried about Jess.

"What's going on?" Finn asked, raising his eyebrows as he looked between them.

"Rey knows everything," Poe said to Finn as he joined them, throwing his hands into the air. "She overhead the meeting last night."

Finn raised his eyebrows as he turned to Rey. "You did?" He smiled briefly at her. "You _sneaky_ Jedi," he teased, knocking her in the arm.

Rey cleared her throat, looking between the two of them. "I talked to Leia last night, after the meeting," she said, and the two men's heads perked up.

"What? About _this?"_ Finn asked, confused.

"Leia guessed what you and the other pilots were going to do, that you wouldn't listen to Luke. She advised us to visit Maz, she could lend us a larger ship."

Poe raised his eyebrows, folding his arms as he thought. "I guess we'd have to, to bring Jess home. The only freight ships we have here are much slower than a one-manned X-wing. But...that means we'd have to leave here _much_ sooner."

"When were you planning on leaving?" Rey asked, keeping her voice quiet as she glanced around them.

Poe hesitated, and Rey she grew impatient, considering breaking into his mind to get out the answer.

"Tonight," Finn answered for him.

Poe stared at Rey a moment, his face dropping slightly. "But if we're making a detour to Takodana, we need to leave well before then—within the next few hours."

Rey thought for a moment. "What if we all split up?" The men appeared confused at her suggestion. "No, really, think about it: some of us can go ahead in the X-wings to find the Empire shuttle, and the other half can go to Takodana to get the freight ship and then meet up with the others."

Finn nodded. "It makes sense," he said, rubbing his face as he thought. "It'll probably take some time to find the shuttle anyways, since we can't track Jess's ship anymore. The people on the shuttle either destroyed its tracking system or the ship itself," he said, his voice wavering. He lowered his head slightly in obvious dejection, and Rey rubbed his shoulder reassuringly.

"If we're doing that, I'll lead the group of pilots to the Empire shuttle, I expect we'll run into trouble with those two TIEs that were spotted with it," Poe said. "You two can take the other group to Takodana."

Rey straightened, her brows furrowing as she looked up at Poe. "I'll go with you, with the group heading to the Empire shuttle," she protested.

Poe shook his head. "Rey, I'm not letting you do that," he said, concern in his voice.

"It's not _your_ choice to make, Poe," she said firmly. "Besides, you'll need me to track down the shuttle. You forget that I can sense—" she cut herself off, unsure of whether to say 'Kylo Ren' or Ben's real name.

Poe sighed, tilting his head as his gaze dropped to the ground for a few moments. "You're right," he said, nodding, his eyes rising back up to meet hers. "I guess I can't make you stay, can I?" He asked with a pensive half-smile.

Rey shook her head slowly. She then turned to Finn, who had grown quiet. She sensed his distress over Jess, and she moved towards him, wrapping her arms around him in an attempt to comfort him. He sighed as he accepted her hug.

"It's okay, Finn. We'll _find_ her, I promise," Rey said. As she pulled away, she turned her eyes back to Poe's. "We'll find BB-8 too," she said determinedly. Poe didn't tend to show much emotion over the loss of his droid and friend, but Rey knew he was still upset. "We'll get them _both_ back," she said, but her voice wavered slightly as she couldn't help but wonder if she would be able to bring Ben home as well.

Poe nodded solemnly, biting his lip. "I need to tell the others," he said, beginning to walk away. "I'll see you both back here in a few hours."

"We'll see you then," Rey said, turning back to comfort Finn. She turned back over her shoulder as she heard Poe calling back to her.

"Rey, you can you fly one of these, right?" He asked as he walked backwards, gesturing towards the X-wings lined on either side of him.

Rey narrowed her eyes, giving him a soft smile as she reflected. _If Ben had been able to fly an X-wing, then I should be able to, since our skills seem to transfer through our Force bond,_ she thought. "I can fly anything," Rey called back to him, raising her head, and Poe smiled across at her, beaming.

….

Rey sat at the table across from Finn in her small house, trying to clear her mind and calm herself. _What if we don't make it in time to save Jess?_ She worried. She looked across at Finn, who was staring solemnly through the window at their side. _What if we do?_

Rey's thoughts shifted back to Ben, remembering the first kiss they'd shared by the fire in their makeshift house on Drecenia. Her hand instinctively rose her to mouth as she remembered the feeling of his lips on hers, soft and inviting. She traced her finger over her lower lip as the memories flooded back to her. _What if I run into him?_

Rey thought of Leia last night, how she'd assumed that Rey would want to go with Finn and Poe to rescue Jess and BB-8. Remembering the knowing smile on Leia's face, she realized that Leia knew she would want to go with them not just for Jess and BB-8, but for the potential to reunite with Ben.

"Are you worried?" Finn asked, studying her face. Rey jolted, having been lost in her thoughts, and she sighed.

"Yes, but not for reasons that you'd think," she admitted. He nodded, catching her drift. Rey always felt that Finn was the only one she could ever confide her secrets in. Though Leia was understanding and treated her nearly as a daughter, Rey always refrained from revealing very much about her time with Ben, afraid Leia would repeat her stories to Luke. Rey worried that if Luke realized how emotionally attached she was to Ben, he would give up training her as a Jedi.

"I know you can't communicate with him, but you still sense him, don't you?" Finn asked.

Rey nodded. "I do. I always sense him. I feel that he's very far away now, but...his presence is always with me," she said.

"Do you sense...do you think he could be—" Finn began.

"A Sith?" Rey answered, and Finn lowered his brows, nodding slowly.

Rey shifted her gaze, taking in a deep breath through her nose. She closed her eyes, feeling the Force around and within her, latching onto Ben's presence that always remained a part of her. The connection she sensed from his end felt distinctly heavy, and had felt increasingly so over the past few months. Yet there was something else there, a slight otherness, a lightness. Just as she herself always felt a pull to the Dark through her connection to Ben, Rey knew that he conversely always felt a pull to the Light through his connection with her.

Rey opened her eyes, meeting Finn's. "I don't," she finally said, her voice firm. "I know you don't understand, but there is light in him...there always will be."

"But what will happen if you find him?" Finn asked, raising an eyebrow in wary concern.

Realizing it was nearing their time to meet Poe and the other pilots back at the tarmac, Rey rose from the small table. She met Finn's nervous eyes with assurity. "I _will_ find him," she concluded. "And I'll bring him back home with the others."

Finn's eyes dropped from hers as his mouth formed a flat, dissenting line.

….

Tense and exasperated, Kylo stood in the pouring rain, his boots sinking into the thick mud below. He sensed his Knights standing around him at the ready, waiting for any other signs of danger. He did not sense Nodin, and a faint sense of relief flooded through him.

Through the dark screen of the mask, Kylo's heart skipped a beat as he saw Rey standing across from him, her eyes wide as she stared back. She was shivering, whether from the cold or from fear, Kylo was not sure.

Suddenly, a body rose from the ground between them, and Rey stumbled to the ground. The man was poised to strike Rey, his mallet raised over his head, but Kylo leapt forward, simultaneously grabbing the man's wrist and shoving his saber through the center of his back. Kylo watched as the man dropped to the ground. His face swivelled back to Rey, who had risen to her feet. She remained in place before him, frozen in obvious horror.

 _Rey,_ Kylo urged, moving towards her with purpose, but Rey quickly retreated. His boots sloshed heavily through the mud as he pursued her, confused by her distrust. _Rey!_

There was a crashing sound, and Kylo was no longer in the rain. He was swirling in a dark grey haze, being pulled away from Rey, and he tried to reach out for her, to protect her. The crashing sounded again.

Kylo jolted awake in his bed, sweat streaming down from his hairline as he panted to catch his breath. He pressed a hand to his head, sliding away the hair that stuck to his slick forehead.

He jolted again again the sound of a metallic _thud_ against his chamber door, and he sighed in relief, realizing that BB-8 was rolling against his door to wake him up. Kylo motioned his hand upwards and the door lifted with the force.

BB-8 rolled quickly to his bedside, bleeping hastily.

"A transmission?" Kylo asked, rubbing his heavy eyelids. "From who?"

The droid beeped in response.

Kylo sighed. " _Great."_ He got out of his bed and pulled a shirt on before making his way to the front of the ship to answer the transmission, BB-8 following closely behind.

As he entered the pilot's section of the ship, the several commanders at the control board silently bowed their heads towards him before speeding out of the room. Kylo moved forward to the controls and switched the ship's transmission intercom on. Grand Admiral Thrawn began speaking without any form of greeting."Ren, what have you gotten from the Organa pilot?"

Kylo flinched at the sound of his former last name. He scowled down at the intercom. "Nothing. She is not informed of the Order's methods of production," he answered.

" _Nothing?"_ Admiral Thrawn sighed. "That is unfortunate, for her sake," he said in his usual calm, accented voice. "Bring her to the base at Quarus for further interrogation. We may come up with other information to extract from her. She is not to be executed just yet."

"That was my plan," Kylo said. "We have discarded her X-wing, there are tracking devices in its system."

"Good," Thrawn said. "I shall reach Quarus in a week's time, though I expect you should be reaching the planet within the next day or two."

"Yes," Kylo answered.

"Until then," Thrawn said, and cut off the transmission.

BB-8 wavered in place at Kylo's side, bleeping nervously. Kylo looked down at the droid.

"We have to bring her to Quarus," he told the droid. "We can't 'just let her go.'"

BB-8 beeped and trilled in response, circling to the front of Kylo.

"Then we will have to plan for her release on the planet. If we let her go from our shuttle, it will be too obvious that she was allowed to escape. For your sake and mine, we have to take her there," Kylo answered.

The droid beeped and rolled forward, gently bumping into Kylo's shins as it stared up at him. Kylo looked away, trying not to allow it to persuade him. He backed away from the droid before looking at it again. "Fine," he muttered.

BB-8 beeped in delight, and it followed Kylo as he headed towards the interrogation chamber. Before he opened to the door to the chamber, however, he hesitated, debating going back to his room to get his mask. BB-8 bleeped questioningly, and Kylo glanced down at him. "Stay out here," he told the droid, but his tone was gentle.

Grinding his jaw, Kylo was apprehensive to approach the prisoner without his mask. As he lifted the door with the Force, he moved casually into the room, meeting the wary, enervated eyes of Jess Testor.

Jess shrunk back further into the metal chair as she studied his face. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. Both of them knew that she didn't need to speak for him to know what she was thinking.

Kylo's eyes drifted from hers as he moved to the side of her chair.

She shivered as he neared her, and Kylo read in her thoughts that she assumed he was approaching to finish her off. She craned her face away from him.

"Please, I _swear,_ I don't know anything—"

"I know," Kylo said flatly, leaning down. He pressed a switch on the side of the chair and her restraints immediately popped open.

Jess remained frozen in place, staring at him in shock as he backed away from the chair. "Wha— _what?"_ She asked, cautiously leaning her head forward.

"You don't have to stay in the chair," Kylo said, careful to keep his voice stony. "Follow me." He moved to the open door of the chamber, waiting.

Jess stared a him a moment longer before moving, not trusting him in the slightest. "W-where are we going?" She asked shakily. She slowly peeled herself from the chair, standing in front of it as she stared across at him apprehensively.

"Follow me, or I'll have you strapped back into that thing," Kylo threatened, and he turned out of the room. He looked back over his shoulder and saw Jess slowly turning out of the room, her eyes dropping at the sound of beeping at her feet.

"BB-8?!" She exclaimed, and she leaned down, placing her hands on the droid as it bleeped happily.

Kylo turned towards Jess and stared at her. Catching his ill-tempered gaze, she leapt back up to her feet, ignoring the droid. Kylo turned and continued down the hallway, and she slowly followed him, keeping her distance. They passed several stormtroopers, who all straightened themselves as Kylo walked past them.

Kylo led her to a small, empty bed chamber at the back of the ship, and he remained next to its entrance, nodding towards it. "You'll stay in here," he said, and she nodded feebly, ducking quickly past him into the small room. Kylo shut the door with the Force, and and he headed back to his own room, hoping to escape from his troglodytic reality, to have more dreams and visions of Rey.


	5. Chapter 4: Yin and Yang

"Alright Squad One, let's move out," Poe's voice sounded over the transmission intercom of Rey's X-wing. Rey flipped on the controls of her ship, readying its engines. "Rey, are you ready?"

"Ready," she answered, adjusting her helmet. She watched as Poe's X-wing before her began lifting up from the ground, the ship's landing stands retracting up as it ascended up from the pavement.

Rey hit the liftoff controls on the panel before her, and her ship jostled slightly as it began to rise from the ground. A loud _click_ sounded below her as the ship's landing gear locked up into place. Rey couldn't help but smile as the ship carried her higher, and she turned to her side to peer down at the silver and orange X-wings lined neatly beneath her on the tarmac. She saw Finn and the other pilots of his group waving her off, and she waved back.

Although Finn had tried arguing against them, Poe and Rey had agreed that Finn should lead the other half of the group to Takodana to pick up a transport ship. Finn was an excellent leader and over the years had become a good pilot, but Rey and Poe had both been afraid that in his current emotional state, Finn would be more likely to make rash decisions in attempting to rescue Jess Testor from the Empire. They had been able to gently persuade him to manage the other group, and though they hadn't told him of their fears, Finn seemed to have understood the reasoning behind their plan.

Rey focused as she steered her ship upwards, following after Poe. As her ship began climbing higher into the sky, she saw four dots appearing on her fighter's motion scanner, the four other X-wings of her group now trailing behind her.

As Rey breached the planet's atmosphere, her fighter began to sail smoothly in space with the lack of wind resistance. She let out a breath as she took in the sight of space again, something she hadn't seen in person for nearly half a year; Luke hadn't allowed her leave the planet, his reason being that he need to train with her every day.

Rey knew that Luke's primary reason to keep her on Trora was to keep her and Ben from finding each other once again. She knew that despite her own current devotion to the code of the Jedi, Luke sensed that she always still felt a pull to the Dark, and he thought that Ben would one day attempt to seduce her away from the Light.

Rey turned over her shoulder, looking back at Trora as it began to shrink behind her. _I'm sorry, Luke. Please forgive me,_ she thought.

"Prepare to jump into hyperspace," Rey heard Poe's voice over her ship's transmission. "Let's go, Flygirl," Poe added, just to her. Rey smiled to herself as she made the necessary adjustments on the X-wing's control panel.

Though she felt a gnawing anxiety deep in the pit of her stomach, wary of coming into contact with Ben again, Rey's heart raced as her feelings were mixed with a puerile excitement at the promise of a new adventure.

….

Jess Testor sat on the small bed in her claustrophobic holding room, her knees pressed up into her chest. She'd been in this room for at least a day, it seemed. She didn't even want to contemplate how long she'd been strapped to the incredibly uncomfortable metal interrogation chair. Her back still ached from it.

Even in this more comfortable room, however, Jess couldn't bring herself to relax, her mind still circling back to the loss of Snap Wexley. _At least there's a washroom in here,_ she thought begrudgingly.

Jess had been astounded to have seen BB-8 on board the ship, and he'd been happy to see her. Interestingly, it didn't seem as though he was being held captive, like her; he had been surprisingly lively, behaving as his usual, sprightly self.

 _If only Poe knew BB-8 was being kept here,_ Jess thought dolefully, recalling her friend's grief over the loss of his beloved droid. _Ren has probably reprogrammed the droid, the poor thing._

Jess scooted back against the wall on her bed as a metallic _clank_ sounded against her door. Her heart pounded as she waited for Kylo Ren to come in. _He's finally come to kill me,_ she thought, her hands trembling as they gripped around her knees. She recalled the shock and confusion she'd felt at seeing Ren's unmasked face: his ghostly complexion, his atramentous hair, his surprisingly youthful features. _He's not far in age from myself,_ Jess thought. _But, those eyes…_

She shuddered as she heard a stormtrooper's modulated voice from outside, followed by another _clang_ against her door. The stormtrooper suddenly shrieked, and the door to her room lifted in a _whoosh._

Jess gasped in surprise as BB-8 rolled into her small chamber, the door dropping behind him.

"BB-8! BB-8, how do you remember me?" She asked the droid, scrambling to sit on the edge of her bed.

The droid beeped, tilting its head in confusion.

"What—so—they _didn't_ reprogram you?

BB-8 bleeped in response.

"But...you don't seem...you're not a prisoner?" She listened to BB-8's response. "Why would he just keep you—oh…" BB-8 had told her that Kylo Ren had told him he couldn't go back to Poe, since the droid now had too much intel about the Empire. "But you _miss_ Poe, don't you?"

BB-8 released a small sighing sound, lowering its head.

"I'm sorry you're stuck with Kylo Ren," she said, shaking her head in despondency. "I guess we both are, for now."

BB-8's head rose, and he wavered in place as he beeped back at her.

Jess's face contorted. "' _Not that bad?!'_ What do you mean he's ' _not that bad?'"_ BB-8 bleeped in protest. "You can't be your ' _friend'_ —he's our _enemy!"_ She exclaimed.

BB-8's head swivelled back towards the door as it beeped softly, hushing her. It then rolled up to her feet, beeping a lengthy response.

"Are...are you sure he's not just tricking you— _us?"_ She asked, listening as the droid continued telling her his and Ren's plan for her release. Jess sighed, her head dropping into her hands. After a few moments of silence, her face rose to look back at the droid. "You seem awfully trusting of him. But I guess I have no other choice but to believe you, right?"

BB-8 bumped against the front of her shins, one of his usual expressions of affection. She smiled down at the droid, placing a hand on the curve of its metal head. It beeped questioningly, and she nodded. "Okay. I'll do as you say. I won't trust _him,_ though," Jess said, nodding towards the door. "If you're not supposed to be in here, you should go. I don't want to get you into trouble. Go, now," she said, gently pushing the droid backwards.

BB-8 beeped a good-bye and clanked himself against the metal door. A moment later, the door lifted, and Jess saw a stormtrooper outside of her room, pressing the door's controls. The stormtrooper leapt back from BB-8 as it rolled past him, and the door _whooshed_ closed, returning Jess to her solitude. But after BB-8's visit, she no longer felt so hopeless.

… **.**

Rey shifted uncomfortably in her seat, growing restless from having flown in her X-wing for so long. It felt as though they'd been flying for a day. _Maybe we have,_ she thought, losing track of time.

"Let's drop from hyperspace," Poe said, and on his count, Rey and the other four pilots plunged back into the familiar black vacuum of empty space.

"Hey, Flygirl, are we still on the right track?" Poe asked Rey through the transmission.

Rey sighed, her hands becoming clammy. Ben's presence grew stronger as she neared him, and she realized that she'd grown unaccustomed to feeling him so clearly through the Force, to being so _aware_ of their connection.

"Yes, we're getting close," she finally answered, a twinge of foreboding in her voice.

"Should we stop, then, and wait for the others?" One of of pilots asked.

"No, we should keep going," Rey said without thinking. Despite her apprehension, she couldn't resist the pull of the Force, the lure towards Ben.

"Rey, can you estimate how far out we are?" Poe said.

"Mm...I'm not completely sure, but I feel—we're _very_ close," she said.

"I haven't picked anything up on my scanners," one of the pilots said.

"Neither have I," said another.

"This is uncharted territory, let's just hope we aren't near a base of some sort," Poe said. "And if we are, let's hope we can reach that Empire ship first."

The group continued on, and as the pull of the Force grew stronger, Rey's heart began to race.

 _Ben?_ She called through the Force, but as she had expected, there was no answer. As usual, she felt a sort of mental block. _Ben, where are you? What's happened to you?_

… **.**

 _No...she's not real,_ Kylo thought, torn between his own attempts at rational thought and the wrench of the Force, the latter of which was telling him otherwise.

Kylo stomped through his ship toward the control room, stormtroopers pressing themselves against the sides of the hallway as he lumbered past them. Kylo's flaring temper was palpable.

As Kylo stormed into the front pilot's section, the three commanders flipped around from the control board, watching him with wide eyes.

"Commander Mitaka, what has come up on our scanners?" Kylo asked gruffly through his mask.

The commander cowered against the control board as Kylo loomed over him. "We, uh—we haven't picked up anything, Sir," he said confusedly, his voice shaking.

" _Useless,"_ Kylo spat, shoving Mitaka aside with the Force. Ren moved up to the control panel, scanning the ship's security screen. He was only vaguely aware of Mitaka scrambling out of the room behind him. Though they backed up and away from Ren, the other two commanders remained.

Kylo slammed his fist against the edge of the control board, shaking his head. "We've picked up _nothing?"_ He growled, turning around to peer at the two commanders behind him. They quickly shook their heads. Ren's chest tightened in anger and he gripped the edge of the desk before him. _They're not doing their jobs,_ he thought. Needing to vent his frustration and chagrin, Kylo considered slashing his lightsaber through the commanders, a sudden bloodlust in his veins. _So easy,_ he thought. _So quick._

But an image—perhaps a memory—of a Nexu laying in the snow flashed into his mind, and suddenly Kylo felt as if he had been transported away for the moment. His breathing quickened as a familiar, soothing voice chimed through his head: " _it wouldn't be fair...that's senseless violence."_

He let out a long breath, lowering his head to his chest. _It's not their fault, it's not their fault,_ he reminded himself, trying to clear his thoughts, the well of pain and fury that Snoke had trained him to maintain. Kylo's shoulders lowered as he imagined— _remembered?_ —the sound of the girl's voice. _Rey_.

Kylo shook his head of the seeming fantasy and turned to face the two fearful commanders. "You need to keep close watch of the ship's scanners," he said flatly.

"Sir, if I may, if there's anything the scanners will pick up, it will be TIE fighters, we're so close to Quarus. We were just making preparations to land. If you sense something, that's all it—"

Kylo abruptly rose his fist, his gloves scrunching. He was losing patience again. "What I _sense_ is no _TIE,"_ he spat.

The commander staggered backwards, lowering his head. "Alright, yes, I see," he said.

The other commander spoke up this time. "Sir, what of the prisoner?"

Kylo thought for a moment, silently regarding the man. "Have a squadron of the troopers take her to a holding room once we get to the base," he said. He figured Jess Testor's escape would be less suspicious if it appeared to be the fault of the stormtroopers, rather than of himself.

"Yes, Sir," the commander said, nodding his head obediently, and he and the other commander soon left the room.

Kylo Ren turned back around to stare out the window of the ship. The Force pulled at him so _strongly_. He turned his masked face and felt a distinct emptiness, a painful twisting in his chest as he looked at the empty pilot's chair at his side.

… **.**

"Son of a Bantha, are you guys reading this?" One of the Organa pilots called through the transmission.

"We must be nearing a planet," Poe postulated.

Rey scanned her ship's control screens, seeing that the gravity detector had risen considerably. "What do you think it is?" She asked.

"I don't know, but I'm going to assume we don't want to take a risk and check it out," one of the pilots said. "Let's slow down."

But Rey didn't slow her ship. The draw of the Force was heavy, overwhelmingly so. Right now, she had a one-track mind: to follow where the Force led her. The distance between her X-wings and the others began to increase as she continued on.

"Hey, Flygirl, did you catch that? We're going to wait here for Squad Two," Poe said over her transmission.

Rey didn't answer as she continued ahead. Her breathing quickened as she so clearly felt _him._

"What's she doing?" One of the pilots asked.

"Rey! Is your transmission working?" Questioned another.

"It's working just fine," Poe said flatly. "Rey, I'm coming after you," he said.

"No, Poe, I need to do this _alone,_ " she said. "I'm going to find Jess and BB-8, you and the others need to stay here so Finn and the other squadron can find you."

"What? Rey, no! This wasn't our plan! Wh— _why_ are you doing this?" Poe asked, his voice breaking.

Rey let out a shaky breath as she saw the dot of his ship nearing hers on her scanner. "Poe, don't make me do this," she said to herself quietly. "Poe, go back, I'm going in alone. I'm a Jedi, I can do this," she said over the transmission. She saw on her scanning screen that his ship was gaining on her.

"I'm not letting you go! They'll kill you— _he'll_ kill you!" Poe shouted in response, and Rey was surprised that he had rightly assumed she was also planning on going after Ben. Rey felt anger growing within her at Poe's rash claim. She was fleetingly tempted to hurt him.

She flipped her head to the side as she saw Poe's X-wing out her window, and she scowled. She reached her palm out, concentrating on the Force, on her own exasperation.

"Rey, you have to let go of hi—" Rey head Poe's voice cut out as she'd forced him into a Force faint. Energy surging through her, she extended the Force further, using it to slow Poe's ship to a stop.

She turned and stared ahead, guilt gnawing momentarily in her stomach, but she shook her head: she needed to focus on what lay ahead. Cutting off her ship's transmission, Rey steered her X-wing forward, following the Force and leaving the others behind.

Soon enough, she saw a small turquoise and green dot appear before her. It grew larger as she approached, though it was still in itself a tiny planet. Staring at it, Rey figured that its color came from its apparent ice and forests. _Yet another snowy planet,_ she observed bitterly. Rey thought of Starkiller Base, then of Drecenia, where she and Ben had fought the Nexu, and where she'd fought him. She shivered as she remembered Snoke standing over Ben in the frost. _Ben,_ and his bloody, damaged body. _What have they done to him this time?_ She wondered, her heart skipping a beat.

As she neared the planet, she closed her eyes, raising her palms as she attempted to create a Force field around her ship, as she'd seen Ben do to his old command shuttle on Drecenia when she'd been inside it. Rey felt the Force encircling her ship, blocking out the elements of the outside. She opened her eyes, taking in a deep breath from the effort, hoping that her attempt had worked.

Upon reaching the planet's atmosphere, Rey hadn't seen any sign of TIE fighters or Empire vessels, but she sensed Ben's presence even more clearly; she knew he had to be on the planet somewhere. Her hands grew clammy as she lowered her X-wing through the cloudy skies of the planet, hoping that the Force field around her ship would keep Ben and any Empire scanners from sensing the approach of her ship, of _her._

Breaking out of the cloud layer, Rey saw a thick, snow-blanketed forest below, and she steered her X-wing just above the canopy. She kept her eyes trained ahead, looking for signs of civilization. For a while, she didn't see anything but ice and trees. The sun began to lower towards the horizon line as she soared over the frozen land, the sky turning a light grey.

It wasn't long, however, before Rey spotted dark structures ahead, and she abruptly slowed her craft, veering to the side as she searched for a clearing in the trees to land in. Her breath caught in her throat as she saw a dark, tall-winged ship parked in a clearing to her side, and she wondered if it was Ben's. It looked just like his old command shuttle, only larger. Because of the Force field around her ship, she couldn't sense Ben, and she began nervously wondering if he was just below her.

Rey found another clearing not far off from the black shuttle, and she forced herself to swallow her fear. _I'll have to face him at some point. It might as well be now,_ she decided, preparing her ship for landing.

As soon as her X-wing had touched down into the icy snow below, Rey opened the cockpit, wrenching off her helmet and dropping it onto her seat. As she hopped down from the craft, her boots crunched into the white ground below, and the frigid air burned her cheeks. For a moment, she stood looking upwards, marveling at the remarkable height of the dark green trees towering above her. The trees were framed by the greying sky, and they appeared almost foreboding.

Rey faced ahead, letting out a visible, white tendril of breath as she began to move forward. She realized that once she stepped outside of the Force field surrounding her ship, she'd be able to sense Ben. At this realization, Rey was on edge, apprehensive of just how close she would sense he was.

One feeble step at a time, Rey moved forward through the snow, her hands clenching anxiously as her head swiveled left and right, hoping to catch even the slightest sign of movement.

Suddenly, Rey was able to feel everything, all at once, and her breath caught in her throat. _He's so close,_ she realized, and she froze in her tracks. _He's getting nearer…_ Her eyes scanned around her wildly, and her hand came instinctively to the hilt of her saber at her belt. She felt herself falling into a sort of delirium, and everything began appearing to her as a threat: the white-as-bone snow, the trees still as corpses, the sky turning ashen above her. Suddenly, Rey didn't want to be here. _This was a mistake,_ she thought. _What_ _if Poe and the others were right_ — _what if Ben had devoted himself completely to the Dark side? Had I misjudged his feelings before? Do I mean anything at all to him now?_

Rey began to back up, her ears ringing with the crunching of her boots in the snow. She shivered as she felt Ben grow even nearer. _Ben_ — _or Kylo Ren?_

Rey became stock-still as she sensed him behind her. The hairs on her neck stood on end.

Slowly, she turned around, her fingers resting on the hilt of her saber as she sensed him. She couldn't see him, and she stepped slowly, carefully around her X-wing. As she moved around it to the other side, her eyes grew wide as she saw a familiar dark figure standing in the snow a considerable distance across from her.

Her chest heaving, Rey couldn't tear her eyes away from Ben's robed form, the stony stare of his mask. He remained in place as he seemed to stare back at her. She noticed his shoulders lowering, his wrapped arms hanging dully at his sides.

 _Ben?_ She probed, but he didn't respond. Tightening her hands into fists, Rey summoned her courage, taking a few steps towards him.

"You're—it's _you,"_ Ben said in a low voice. Rey frowned at the modulated effect the mask gave to the normally dulcet tone of his voice.

"Ben," she began, unsure of what else to say. She watched him breathlessly, remaining stock still as she watched his posture grow more tense.

"That's not my name," he said darkly.

Rey frowned at the menacing tone of his voice, and a fiery pang of anger began to course through her. Tears threatened at the corners of her eyes as she continued to stare across at him, sensing his antagonism. She raised her face. "Take off your mask."

"Why should I?" He asked, his head tilting slightly. There was an unevenness in his voice.

Rey took a few defiant steps towards him. "You get to see my face, it's only fair that I see yours," she said matter-of-factly. She moved towards him again, but she stopped as he abruptly pulled out and ignited his cracking red saber before him. Rey scowled at him.

"What do you think you'll see beneath it?" He asked, his voice taunting.

Irritated by his reluctance, Rey pulled out her own saber, igniting the two yellow ends of it before her. Ben's head seemed to crane upwards slightly.

Rey raised her voice. "The face of Ben Organa-Solo. Son of Leia and Han, Prince of the remaining Republic of Alderaan," she said. She stepped towards him again, her hands trembling as she gripped the hilt of her saber, lowering it. "The face of the man I love," she added softly, her voice cracking.

Ben seemed to hesitate before answering. "Attachments are forbidden for Jedi," he returned, and he lowered his own saber.

Rey stepped forward again, ignoring his retort. "Then I'm no Jedi," she said with conviction, her brows knitting together.

Rey stared at him, waiting, her mouth quivering. She let out a surprised breath as she watched Ben disengage his saber, sliding it back into the hilt at his side. His gloved hands moved slowly up to his helmet, and she thought she saw his hands trembling. Slowly, gingerly, he clicked his helmet off, taking his time lifting it from his face.

Rey felt an icy shock shoot up her spine as she met his brown-rimmed, yellowish eyes.

* * *

 _Oh, no...what's in store for our Reylo pals here? How do you think Rey's going to take this? Will Ben let Rey in again? And when's Poe going to wake up? (Poor Poe!) Thanks for reading, commenting, and being patient! Sending my love to you all._


	6. Chapter 5: Regression

Rey shrunk back in horror, staggering backwards as if she'd been physically struck. " _No,"_ she breathed, shaking her head in disbelief. She couldn't tear her gaze from Ben's, the haunting yellow glow, the purplish coloring beneath his eyes. Rey began to shiver, but it wasn't from the wintry air. "No, _no…"_

Ben's gaze shifted to the side, his jaw clenching. He turned his pale face away from her as if ashamed.

 _They were right,_ Rey thought, backing away from him. Her head spinning, she couldn't hear the crunching of her boots as she backtracked through the snow. Ben's face lifted as he noticed her retreating, and his face grew pinched.

Staring across at him, Rey wasn't sure if she had fallen into complete madness or if Ben's eyes were actually darkening. Ben took a few steps in her direction, but Rey held her beaming saber threateningly before her, and he hesitated.

"You've turned down a path I can't follow...you've betrayed me... _us,"_ she accused, her voice breaking. She grew angry at the tears that were now trailing down her cheeks. She wanted to keep hidden her pain, the deep ache twisting her chest, her heart. _The X-wing. I need to get out of here,_ she thought, and Rey picked up her pace, still keeping her gaze warily on the deathly figure across from her.

Ben's face twitched as he began to move towards her again. He quickened his pace, his eyebrows furrowing together as he reached a hand out towards her in supplication. " _Rey_...Rey, _wait_ —" He pressed, his voice rising.

Rey shook her head headedly as she flipped around and sprinted the short distance back to her ship. As she ran across the threshold of the Force field surrounding the craft, she could no longer feel Ben's presence, and for the first time, she was glad of it. She clambered up into the cockpit of her ship, shifting on the engines as she yanked her helmet onto her head. She looked out the window to her right and saw Ben trudging through the snow towards her, his expression disoriented.

Rey lifted the ship up from the white ground beneath just before Ben reached her. Wiping the tears from her eyes, Rey veered her X-wing up sharply into the dusky sky, leaving Ben behind in the lifted swirls of snow.

As her ship broke through the planet's atmosphere, Rey's shoulders shook, her hands hovering over the ship's controls, unsure of what to do, where to go. She didn't want to go back to the waiting squad of pilots, to admit to Poe that she should have listened to him. But she didn't want to go all the way back to Trora all the same, to face Luke and feel his disappointment.

 _No,_ Rey decided. _I want to be alone._ Her thoughts clouded, Rey was now of a one-track mind. There was only one place left she could think of to go.

….

 _Is it purgatory where I am doomed to live the rest of my days?_ Ben thought bitterly as he slashed his lightsaber at yet another tree trunk, cutting through to the other side. The severed log crashed into the snow, and flurries of lifted snow circled around him.

Growling through his teeth, Ben moved towards another tree, spinning his sizzling saber through the icy air before cleaving the wood. This one landed at the base of his feet, and Ben raised his saber above his head, bringing his weapon down into the log with all of his force. He saw only red. The saber crackled and sparked as he hacked relentlessly at the log, splintering and searing the wood.

Soon, Ben began to tire, and he brought the lightsaber down one last time. He pulled the saber back up from the wood slowly, drained of most of his energy. Huffing, Ben swiped frustratedly at the damp, sweaty hair clinging to his forehead with his free hand. He leaned over forwards as he attempted to catch his breath, resting a hand on his knee, his crackling saber held to the side with his other hand. He shook his head once as he stared at the mangled log before him, grinding his jaw.

 _Why did you take off your mask?_ He berated himself. _You let her see. She'll never trust you again._ Ben shut his eyes tightly as he saw Rey in his mind, her face made all the more stunning by the golden glow of her double-bladed lightsaber. _The one I suggested her to make,_ he reflected.

"Sir?"

Ben abruptly straightened as he looked across at two snowtroopers armed with blasters. They remained several yards from him. The troopers had most likely seen some of his melodramatic outburst, but Ben didn't care; if anything, seeing him hacking away at the giant trees would have made them all the more fearful of him.

"Sir, the Organa prisoner is here at the base," one of the snowtroopers said anxiously, taking a small step towards him.

Ben disengaged his saber, sliding it into the hilt at his belt. _There are two here,_ he thought sardonically. He knew that the troopers hadn't come to tell him just this; they'd been sent to check on him, as one would a pet gone astray.

Seething, Ben trudged across the snow to collect his helmet. He hesitated to pick it up from the frozen ground, his hand hovering above its shiny metal and chrome surface. He let out a breath as he finally lifted it and made his way towards the snowtroopers, not bothering to put the helmet back on.

The troopers followed behind Ben as he led the way to the planet's small military base. The sky was a frosty grey as they moved out of the forest and into an open expanse of snow. The rising wind whipped the tattered wrap around Ben's neck as snowflakes drifted down from the sky, catching in his eyelashes. His helmet tucked under his arm, Ben's gloved hands were balled into tense fists at his sides as he strained to push the images of Rey out of his mind: the fear he he'd seen that had flashed across her face when he'd exposed his eyes to her, the hopelessness he'd read in her own eyes as she had been confronted with the fact that he had regressed into the Dark side enough for his eyes expose his expulsion of the Light, his denomination as a Sith.

Ben's chest heaved, self-hatred burning within his very core as he tried and failed to think of anything besides Rey. Her reaction to him tormented Ben, but he knew that his allegiance to the Empire and to the Dark side was necessary. His darkness would protect her.

Upon reaching the base, the two trailing snowtroopers went their separate way as Ben stalked to his own private quarters. So consumed he was with his own dismal thoughts that he jumped when BB-8 suddenly rolled towards him from around a corner, beeping loudly.

" _Kriff_ —Not now, BB-8," Ben said quickly, flustered.

The droid rolled along at his side as Ben lengthened his stride, hoping the droid would leave him alone. But the droid craned forward as it kept up beside him, its head tilting and looking up at him. The droid beeped curiously, and Ben shot him an annoyed look.

"What do you mean, I 'look different?'" He asked flatly as they reached his bed chamber. Ben pressed a button and the door to the spacious room swiftly lifted.

BB-8 bleeped insistently as it rolled after him through the doorway. Ben stopped and turned around, looking at the droid seriously for a moment. Sighing, he decided to give in and listen to the droid, and he headed to the washroom to look at himself in the mirror.

BB-8 followed Ben into the washroom. As Ben was confronted with his own face in the wide mirror, he furrowed his brows, taken aback. He saw that his pupils were no longer ringed with yellow; instead, his irises had returned to their natural brownish color.

Ben blinked back at himself, a small breath escaping his mouth. BB-8 bleeped smugly, and Ben glanced down at the droid. Dazed, Ben turned on the faucet in the sink below and splashed water on his face, rinsing the sweat from his skin and hairline. He dragged a towel slowly over his face before looking at himself again. Sure enough, his eyes remained brown.

Ever since his reconditioning with Admiral Thrawn and his final training with Snoke, Ben's eyes had retained a yellow coloring around his pupils. Though the width of the yellow rings fluctuated, seemingly correlated with how much of the Dark side he was calling upon at the time, the color had always remained to some degree.

But now, as he stared at himself in the mirror, Ben was confounded at the complete lack of yellow in his eyes. His breath quickened as he turned his gaze from the mirror, and he looked down at the round droid again, who was staring up at him. BB-8 bumped gently against Ben's shin, beeping questioningly.

Ben lowered his head, nodding joylessly. He sucked in a rattled breath. "Yes. I saw her," he said quietly.

The droid bumped into his leg again, beeping.

Ben lowered to his knees, feeling weak as his mind swarmed with confliction. He leaned a hand on the droid, shaking his head slowly. "No. She saw my eyes before they changed. She knows who I am, what I've become...It's too late."

BB-8 rolled suddenly away from him, beeping in protest as it wavered in place.

Staring across at the droid, a sudden tenacity began to swell through Ben's chest. Slowly straightening himself, he ground his jaw as he considered. Ben wanted Rey to remain independent of him, to stay far away from him and the Empire, but he couldn't stand to see her so unhappy, so _abandoned._ Ben shut his eyes as Rey's teary eyes and biting words flashed into his mind.

Reopening his eyes, Ben nodded down at BB-8. "Okay. You're right. I'll do it," he said, and BB-8 beeped happily, projecting a small blue flame on a rod in approval. Ben knew that somehow, he had to try and make things right.

….

Rey stared vacantly ahead of her as her X-wing approached the familiar red planet. Her mind was focused as she veered the ship down through the planet's atmosphere, her throat dry as she soared over the vast, empty desert of Jakku, her eyes scanning the horizon.

Rey's heart writhed in her chest as she saw the familiar tents and structures of Niima Outpost. Her eyes flickered over the small figures that moved about in the town beneath her.

She pressed on, passing the settlement as her ship skimmed over more barren sand dunes.

Then, she saw it: the downed AT-AT. Rey felt a strange twinge of nostalgia at the sight of her old home. Her breathing became shallow as she landed her X-wing, and as she removed her helmet and jumped down from the ship, landing down onto the familiar sand, it became erratic.

Plodding into her old shelter, her eyes moistened as she took in the the things she could have never forgotten: her crudely-made pilot doll, the rusted metal dishes, the dusty sheets of her makeshift bed, the rebel helmet, the potted flower, now dead.

She turned and looked at the thousands of tally marks she'd scratched into the wall, marvelling at how for so many years she'd been able to cling to such childish hope for her family to one day return.

The culmination of her nostalgia, the realization of the futility of the tally marks, and the loss of Ben from her life all meshed together in Rey's aching chest. Suddenly, all of it was too heavy for her to bear, and she choked out a sob as she stood before the marked wall.

Her chest and throat burned as she cried, tears pouring down her hot cheeks as she stood in the balmy space in the AT-AT. Her hands tightened to fists at her sides, and Rey craved comfort, some form of consolation. All alone, she knew there was none to be found.

But Rey's eyes came to settle on her old orange pilot doll and she choked out another sob. She strode over to the doll, giving in to her own childish want as she picked it up, grasping it with both hands. She carried the toy with her as she moved back before the tally wall, and she sunk to the ground, clasping the doll to her chest as she cried.

….

Jess struggled to figure out the controls in the TIE fighter as she steered it away from the Empire planet. After a bout of fumbling with the controls, she began figuring out the craft's transmissions. In this moment, she was more grateful than ever for her extensive training in spacecraft technology.

She ripped out a cord from the TIE's transmission controls, severing the communication lines to base. She began coding in her own transmission functions, attempting to override the system to contact the Organa pilots. She switched the transmission functions back on and tried speaking into the intercom.

"Hello? Organa squadron, this is Jess Testor," she called. Her heart raced as she waited for a reply, but she grew despondent as she didn't get one. _Kylo Ren had said they're out here somewhere,_ she reflected. _Had he lied?_

"Testing, this is Jess Testor signalling to the Organa squadron," she tried again.

"Jess... _Jess Testor?"_ The signal was staticky, but she heard Poe's groggy voice over her transmission.

"Poe!" Jess exclaimed gleefully.

"Poe? Is that him?" One of the other pilot's voices sounded over the intercom.

Jess took in a quick breath as she attempted to calm herself. "I'm approaching in a TIE fighter, don't shoot. I can see you all on my scanners now."

"A TIE fighter? Jess, wha—what _happened?"_ Poe asked slowly. He sounded strangely disoriented.

"Poe, are you alright?" She asked concernedly.

"Poe's been out for awhile, we're not quite sure why, but we think Rey—the Jedi girl—had something to do with it," one of the pilots said.

 _Rey Kenobi,_ Jess marvelled, remembering Kylo Ren pulling memories of the girl from her mind. _Does he have feelings for her?_

"Jess, I see you now on my scanners. We sent a second squad to get a transport ship for you, but I guess we won't be needing that now," a pilot named Vern said.

"Jess, how did you get away?" Poe asked.

"You wouldn't believe it," she said, shaking her head at her own bewilderment. "Kylo Ren—General Leia's son—he helped me escape, he—he led me to a TIE fighter. He told me that you guys were here, near the planet."

"Kylo _Ren?_ " Vern exclaimed, mystified.

" _What?_ If he knows we're out here, why hasn't he alerted the base?" Poe questioned.

"I don't like this at all, we need to get out of here," another pilot said. "They could be planning an attack right now!"

But strangely enough, Jess had sensed a certain integrity in Kylo Ren when he'd helped her escape. "There's no reason he would have let me go, just to turn around and kill all of us," she said matter-of-factly.

"What about BB-8? Where's _Rey?!"_ Poe asked, his voice rising. "Where did she go?"

"According to our trackers, her ship left the planet about an hour ago, she jumped into hyperspace," a pilot explained.

"She went to the planet to look for...that's right…" Poe trailed, seeming to remember what had happened.

"Poe, don't worry, I saw BB-8, he's being kept there with the Empire, but he's doing...surprisingly _well,"_ Jess said, still amazed at the droid's seeming contentedness.

"Oh, _no…_ " Poe drawled. "I need to go and get him, I can't leave him there!"

" _Dameron,_ we don't have time for that. We _need_ to leave," Vern piped up.

"We _can't_ leave Rey and BB-8," Poe protested.

"Poe, you heard Jess, BB-8 is fine for now. And Rey's nowhere near here, I'm sure she's alright. I don't care if this Kylo Ren released Jess, we _need_ to go," Vern pressed.

"I agree," the other two pilots responded in unison.

Jess heard Poe sigh heavily over the transmission before he spoke. "Okay...we have Jess, at least. Let's go, Squad One," he said reluctantly.

As Jess's TIE joined the group of X-wings, relief flooded through her as they prepared to jump into hyperspace and head home.

….

Rey sat crying and cradling her doll for what seemed like an hour before she began to sense something—no, some _one._ Rey felt the familiar presence growing nearer, and she grew uneasy, her stomach turning as she waited. This upset her more, and she debated pulling out her lightsaber, but she was tired, tired of _everything,_ and she didn't have the energy or the willpower to try and fight.

Instead, she remained on the floor, shuddering as she clutched her doll, tears still rolling down her flushed cheeks. Rey began to hear footfalls in the dirt outside, and she slowly turned over her shoulder, tears dripping from her jaw onto the dusty floor as her fingers dug into the cloth and twine of the doll.

As she turned, her heart skittered in her chest as Ben's tall, dark-robed figure moved slowly around the corner of the shelter's opening, and she watched as he did a brief once-over of the place with his eyes. Ben's dark gaze came to settle down on her, and his mouth opened slightly, his brows twitching as he stared across at her.

Rey sucked in a breath, fully noticing what she thought she'd seen in the forest on the Empire planet: that his eyes had changed back to their normal hazel-brown color.

Ben took a few soft steps into the structure of the AT-AT, his eyes remaining concentrated on her. His dark brows raised as he took her in, and Rey noticed his mouth quiver.

"Rey," he said softly. He took another step towards her, but Rey scooted away from him, frowning as she held onto her doll with one hand. She didn't want to let him near her. She watched as his eyes moved from the doll to the tally marked-wall behind her. He took a small step backwards, his brows rising as he blinked at the wall.

Rey's grip loosened on her doll as she saw Ben's eyes glistening with moisture. He began shaking his head, his face twitching as he looked back down at her. "Rey, I'm sorry," he breathed. "I didn't—I didn't mean for it to be like this," he said quietly. He moved towards her and slowly lowered down, crouching before her as he slowly reached a gloved hand towards her face.

Whether it was due to lethargy or apathy, she wasn't sure, but Rey didn't move away from him this time. Letting her doll drop to the dusty floor, Rey closed her eyes as she felt Ben's gloved hand lightly cup her chin, and she let out a quivering breath at his simple touch. As she reopened her eyes, fresh tears slid down her cheeks, and she saw tears welling in his. Ben leaned towards her as he slid his hand from her chin to the back of her shoulder, and he pulled her into him.

Rey burrowed her face into Ben's warm neck as she cried on his shoulder, and Ben held her snugly in his arms as he sat down. Rey felt him rest his own head on her shoulder. He gently stroked her back gently as she cried, and Rey laced her fingers up into his hair, her tears soaking the black wrap at his neck.

Ben held her for what felt like hours, but Rey didn't care; she wanted to remain in his embrace for as long as she could, lest he disappear from her again.

* * *

 _Awwww our favorite pair has finally reunited! They shouldn't fight their love—they should celebrate it! *wink* *cough* Thanks for reading & reviewing! _


	7. Chapter 6: True Love's Kiss

_Friendly reminder this fic is rated M for ~reasons~_

* * *

Rey felt secure to be back in Ben's embrace, to be surrounded by his aura through the Force. No, _blissful._

Her breathing slowed as her head remained nestled against Ben's neck, his skin hot and slick with sweat beneath her cheek. Not long before, Ben had wrenched off his dark cowl, cloak, and gloves to cool down from the intense heat. His arm warps and a dark shirt remained, and Rey could tell he was still overheated by his labored breathing. She loosened the grip of her arms around his back, not wanting to smother him with her own body heat.

Even though Rey had been away from Jakku for years, the heat didn't bother her now; rather, she welcomed it.

With her ear pressed against his neck, Rey heard the thick thud of Ben's pulse, the throaty _whooshing_ of air as he breathed in and out. She opened her eyes as Ben began to pet the back of her head, his fingers occasionally catching in her buns.

She blinked against the drying beads of tears that clung to her eyelashes and looked ahead through the entryway of the structure. The sky had turned a deep orange over the rolling sand dunes, signaling the start of the sunset.

"How did you find me?" Rey finally breathed.

She felt Ben's head shift ever so slightly as she spoke, and his hand lowered from the back of her head. "I felt you through the Force," he said softly.

"There's a Force field around my ship, how…" she trailed. She kept her head on Ben's shoulder, afraid to look at his face, to be met once again with haunting yellow eyes. But Ben slid his hands to her upper arms, gently leaning Rey away from him to look at her as he sat before her. Rey was flushed with relief as she gazed into his dark, human eyes.

"Our bond is stronger than you think," Ben murmured. His gaze was focused, penetrating.

Rey tilted her head, blinking tiredly at Ben as she studied the sallowness of his skin, the soft curve of his jaw, the sweat trailing from his hairline down to his dark eyebrows. Ben seemed to be studying her face in turn, his warm eyes flickering over her own face.

Rey felt the Force circling around them, drawing her towards him. Her mouth quivered, she wanted nothing more than to lean forward and kiss Ben. But she sensed that he was putting up mental walls to her, and she wasn't sure if the feelings they'd once shared for each other were still mutual.

She suddenly remembered when she'd stood before Snoke's enormous hologram on the Finalizer, and she heard again the sneer in his booming voice as he'd warned her, _when you_ _two are_ reunited, _you shall come to realize that he is_ Kylo Ren... _a_ Sith _has no room for compassion. You will see, once he has been fully corrected._

Rey wondered if Ben had this time been 'fully corrected,' considering the inhuman eyes she'd seen in his face just hours before on the Empire base. _Does he even still have the capacity to love?_ Rey wondered, her heart clenching in her chest. Not wanting to ask him this, another pressing thought crossed her mind.

"Why can't we hear each other anymore?" Rey asked. She knew that Ben understood she was referring to their telepathic connection.

Ben sucked in a breath. "It's Snoke," he said, his voice low. Ben's hands dropped from Rey's wrapped arms as his eyes shifted away from her. His face grew cold, stony. "He's tried to sever our bond."

Rey's brows raised, considering she'd just been thinking of the mysterious figure. "But I can still feel you in the Force," she said, furrowing her brows. "He hasn't severed it."

"No," Ben said, meeting her eyes again. "In that, he has failed. I don't think the bond _can_ be undone."

"Can he always sense you—does he know you're here, now?" Rey asked, her voice rising.

Ben shook his head. "No. Your ship's Force field, it keeps us hidden. Besides, Snoke doesn't know I'm not where I'm supposed to be—at least, not yet."

As he spoke, Rey observed the light purplish coloring beneath his eyes, the debilitation in his face. "What have they done to you?" She breathed. Her stomach twisted in anguish as she thought of the short time they'd once been held prisoner on the Finalizer, and the torture Ben seemed to have been put through while they'd been there. _What could they have done to him this time, in the span of six months?_ She wondered.

Slowly, she reached a hand up to stroke his face, but he abruptly rose from the ground, thwarting her gesture.

"No, Rey," he said rigidly, shaking his head. "We can't be together any longer."

"What do you mean?" She asked, her voice feeble. His tall, dark figure was framed by the deep orange-maroon of the sky that shone through the structure's entrance behind him.

"Rey, this— _us_...it's not safe," he said, his brows furrowing. "We need to stick to our own loyalties...we're on opposite sides of the war, we _should_ be enemies." There was an audible tremor in his voice.

Rey got to her own feet, her brows lowering as she saw the stirring confliction in his eyes. " _Enemies?"_ She repeated. She felt her chest tightening. If she hadn't been crying for the past hour, she probably would have begun now, but her tears had all dried. She was done with crying, with feeling helpless and alone. "Then _why_ did you follow me here?" She snapped, her voice shrill.

Ben looked at her seriously, his mouth opening slightly. He hesitated to speak. "I didn't want you to think I'd abandoned you, Rey, that I'd left you without cause. I just…I don't want you to feel so _lonely,"_ he said quietly, his voice quivering.

Rey swallowed hard as she stared across at him, watching his face as it began to twitch. She knew that he felt just as lonely as she did. "You don't even believe in the Empire, Ben, this isn't fair," she said, the air around them growing tense, tight.

Ben furrowed his brows as he stared back at her. "We can't be together," he repeated. "This is the only way I know you'll be kept safe," he said emphatically. "The Order of Organa can protect you... _I_ can't."

Rey saw the pain that flashed across his features as he spoke. "Why must you have to suffer for all of this?" She asked, taking a small step towards him. Her eyes settled again on the purplish skin beneath his eyes, and she wondered when his eyes would again turn yellow, back into the inhuman eyes of a Sith.

"They're making you into something you don't want to be," Rey said, stepping towards him again. Ben took a swift step back from her, his hands trembling at his sides. "The world shows you no kindness," Rey said quietly, shaking her head. She reached out to touch his face, and this time, he let her. She stroked her fingers affectionately down the faint pink scar that snaked down his cheek. "Let me."

Ben closed his eyes at her touch, his mouth trembling for a moment, and Rey thought that he was caving to her. But when he reopened his glossy eyes, he gently grasped her wrist in his hand and urged it back to her side.

"No," he said, but his wavering voice had little resolve. His doleful eyes flickered over her a moment before he spoke again. "You need to get back to Trora, to your friends," he said, stepping back from her. "We both need to leave."

Rey felt the strain in the Force between them as Ben stared at her with a heavy gaze. His eyes lingered on her before he turned and began making his way out of the AT-AT. Rey shook her head in disbelief as she scampered after him out into the sand. "Ben, _wait_ —when will we see each other again?" She asked desperately, but he didn't answer. She fumed that he was ignoring her. "You're an idiot if you believe I won't come after you!" She yelled sharply as she stalked after him.

Ben finally stopped and he turned to face her, his chest rising in a shaky sigh. "We _will_ see each other again," he said, his brows quivering. But as they stared across at each other in the glow of the remaining sliver of sun on the horizon, they both understood that this was no certainty.

Sucking in a flustered breath, Rey stomped across the short distance between them and pressed her hands to the sides of Ben's cheeks, pulling his face down to hers. She pressed her lips up to his with desperate ebullience, and Ben's hand lifted to cup her face as he softly kissed back. Rey felt the Force surging energetically between them, the powerful sensations stirring within them both.

But the kiss was made brief as Ben gently pulled back, stepping away from her. Even as he pulled away, a vaguely familiar liveliness remained between them, and Rey couldn't quite place what it was. Ben's mouth remained open as he backed away, his brows lifting at their inner ends, his expression a look of unmistakable longing.

The light wind blew his dark hair over his forehead as he stared across at her. "We'll see each other again," he repeated. "When the war is over...I will find you."

Rey's heart sunk in her chest as she watched Ben turn back the other way. Her breath catching in her throat, she realized that this could very well be the last time she'd ever see him again. The Galactic War wasn't expected to end any time soon; at the base on Trora, there had been talk amongst the generals that it could go on for years, _decades._ The chance that Rey and Ben would both survive it was slim, as their Force-sensitivity made them even greater targets to their opposite sides.

Rey remained in place for a few long moments as she watched Ben's tall, masculine figure traipse through the sand amid the backdrop of the maroon sky, her legs growing weak. Forcing herself to turn around, Rey was devastated that the only thing Ben wanted was to stay away from her, to fight on his side of the war. The war seemed to be more important to him than she. _He's a Sith now,_ she reminded herself, reflecting on Snoke's words. _He no longer loves me._

Strangely, Rey's despondent feelings felt as if they were amplified outside of her own self, even mirrored. She was about to enter back into her AT-AT, but she stopped in the sand as she began to piece together the cause of the liveliness she had been feeling in the air for the last few minutes—she could now sense Ben's thoughts, his feelings. And he, presumably, hers.

Rey thought back to the fairy tales she'd read as a child, about the mythical healing powers of a real, loving kiss. _Was it the kiss that opened our minds to each other?_ Rey wondered, tempted to take the fairy tales seriously for once.

Her heart quickened as she heard the sound of heavy footsteps marching through the dirt behind her, and Rey's heart jumped as she flipped around to see Ben standing directly before her, his chest heaving and a heavy look in his soulful eyes.

"I'm no Sith," he said with unwavering conviction. "I _do_ love you, Rey...I'll _never_ stop loving you."

As soon as he'd finished his words, he pressed his lips down firmly onto Rey's, and a small, surprised sound escaped her as his bare hands gripped the sides of her face. Her lips softened against his as Ben tilted his face, kissing her deeply.

Rey's arms broke out in goosebumps under their fabric wraps at the intensity of his kiss, of the passion that flowed through to her from him. Ben's mouth parted slightly as he overtook her lips in his, his hands moving down to grip the sides of her waist. Rey's heart fluttered in her chest as she revelled in the feeling of his full lips crushing down into hers.

Ben's hands wrapped around the small of her back and he pulled her snugly against him. Rey was quick to mold her body to his, raising a hand to this side of his head as she matched the fervent pace of his lips.

Ben kissed her with urgency, as if he were attempting to make up for the many months they'd spent apart. He leaned his body further into Rey, pressing her backwards through the entrance of the AT-AT.

Rey barely had space to catch her breath once inside the structure as he backed her into a wall, his body pressing her up against it. He cupped the side of her jaw with one hand while he gripped her waist with the other. There was a desperation in the way he kissed her, and Rey responded by gripping the back of his neck, pulling his face down closer into hers. His tongue moved through her lips, sliding against her own in a sort of reciprocative dance. His kisses were deep, fervent, _consuming._

So engrossed in each other as they were, they took only second-long breaks to catch their breath. Ben's breathing became fragmented as Rey yanked at the fabric of his shirt, urging it off, but he abruptly gripped her wrist, pressing it to the wall above her head. Rey sucked in a quick breath surprised by his brazenness.

Ben's mouth travelled lower and as he kissed her neck for a few moments Rey's breathing grew fitful. His lips moved back up to hers as he lowered down a bit, sliding his hands around the back of her legs and abruptly lifting her from the ground. He pulled her thighs to the sides of his hips and Rey was quick to wrap her legs around him to stabilize herself.

Ben carried her a few steps to the side and hastily set her atop a dusty bureau. He kissed her generously as his fingers dug into the thin fabric of her pants, pulling her more snugly around his hips. Rey let out a startled breath as she felt the pressure at the front of his hips, never having felt it before because of all of the thick clothing he usually wore. Her awareness of his physical passion made her nervous and excited all at once.

Ben gave her a long, fervid kiss to her mouth before lowering his face back down to her neck. He began sucking and nipping her skin, maintaining his tight grip on her thighs. Rey couldn't keep still with the electric currents that shivered through her body from the feeling of his mouth. His touch combined with his familiar musky scent made for an intoxicating mixture, and Rey could barely contain herself.

" _Ben,"_ she breathed.

She felt the rousing shudder that went through Ben's body at the sound of her voice, and he pressed his mouth roughly to her neck as his hand snaked through her hair. He gently began tugging her hair loose from her buns, and Rey reached a hand to the back of her head to help him free her hair. As the last of her buns fell loose, Ben leaned back a moment to gaze at her with his piercing dark eyes. He slid a hand through the length of her hair as he leaned his face back to hers, kissing her more softly this time.

Their kisses were now slower, longer, and Rey sensed that Ben was savoring every small sensation just as she was. Rey focused on the sounds of their ragged breathing as they both attempted to catch their breath. Ben's hands moved to Rey's waist, and she felt his desire for her in powerful waves as his hands worked at her belt, undoing it from her body along with her lengthy tan sash.

After he dropped the fabric and leather belt to the floor, Ben brushed his lips against Rey's, teasing a kiss, causing her lips to quiver in anticipation. Ben's eyelashes brushed against the bridge of her nose, and her cheeks flushed. His fingers curled around the top of her arm wraps, tugging them looser, and Rey watched quietly as Ben began unwrapping the course fabric from her arms. He used the Force to work more swiftly, the loosened ends of the fabric suspended in the air.

In a matter of minutes her arm wraps were on the ground, and Ben held the back of Rey's head as he kissed her open-mouthed, his tongue sliding between her lips and moved against her own. He pushed his hips further into hers, and Rey felt moisture developing between her legs and a burning in her lower belly as he rubbed his hands up and down her thighs, as she felt his stiffness between her legs.

Rey knew the basics of male anatomy and sexual intimacy, having read about them in books. She'd also read countless fairy tales, many of which were romantic stories where a prince usually courted a princess, saved her from a dragon or beast, and ended with the two falling in love and marrying, happily ever after. As a young girl, Rey had often dreamt and hoped for a prince coming to rescue her one day from Jakku, to defeat the beast of Unkar Plutt, to take her around the far reaches of the galaxy and to bring her back to her family.

Having grown up at Niima Outpost, however, Rey realized that romance seemed to exist only within fairytales, and her exposure to sexuality had not been positive. Rape had not been uncommon in the area where she'd grown up, and for her this had been all the more reason for her to be able to effectively defend herself. She knew that men paid certain women for sex at the Outpost, and sometimes these women ended up pregnant. She had witnessed how the women, impoverished and alone, struggled to raise their children in the harsh environment of Jakku, barely able to bring in enough income to feed themselves. Sadly, their babies didn't usually survive.

Rey herself had gotten such licentious attention and offers from men as she'd grown older and her body had matured. Rey had been repulsed by these offers, some of which came from Unkar Plutt himself. The act of sex confused and and frightened Rey as she'd grown up, and she'd never considered partaking in it, especially since there had never been anyone she'd been attracted to on Jakku. To her, sex seemed like something that was only selfishly enjoyed and desired by men.

But ever since she'd first seen Ben unmasked on Starkiller Base, powerful and confusing feelings had arisen within her, feelings that went against her rational judgement and that she'd tried for a long time to suppress. Since she'd met Ben, Rey had grown more curious about and even desirous of intimacy with him. _But how far will we go this time?_ She wondered.

Now, Rey didn't have much room to think, only to _feel._ As her thoughts melted away, she and him were no longer on opposite sides of the Force, of a galaxy-wide war; they were just two lovers reunited, drinking each other in.

Rey's skin felt as if it were ablaze in sensuous heat, and she pulled at Ben's shirt, yearning to feel his bare skin against hers. It was more than clear that Ben sensed this and felt the same way towards her, as he began lifting the bottom hem of her light blouse,

Rey lifted her arms as he slipped it off of her, only the wrap around Rey's breasts remaining. Ben's dark eyes flicked over her bare torso for a moment, and Rey enjoyed the way he looked her. He leaned back in to kiss her again, and Rey let out a sigh as his hands slid along the sides of her bare waist. She sensed the feverish desires coursing through his mind, and she grew overwhelmed by just how _badly_ he wanted her.

Ben quickly began to loosen the wrap around her chest, but Rey caught his wrist to stop him. He broke from their kiss and met her eyes. "I'm sorry," he said, his voice husky. "I should have asked."

Rey let out a breathy laugh. "No, it's not that," she said, pulling at his shirt. She raised an eyebrow. "Yours first."

Ben's mouth opened slightly, and stared at her a moment. "Okay," he finally said. He slowly began unwrapping his arms and removed the straps that seemed to connect them under his shirt. Rey leaned forward as she helped him, urging him to speed up. When the dark wraps dropped to the floor, Ben hesitated to take his shirt off, and Rey took this moment to admire his muscular arms. It hadn't been the first time she'd seen them bare, but that didn't make her admire them any less.

She began lifting his shirt, but even with her sitting atop the bureau he was too tall for her to lift it up and off of his head. She looked up at Ben questioningly when he didn't help her, and her brows knitted together as she realized he was feeling self-conscious. She gave him an expectant nod, and he dropped his gaze from her as he lifted his shirt.

Rey's mouth parted as she took in his muscular, shredded body, his defined abdominals, the faint scars that were flecked across his light skin. She felt a flush of compassion as she saw the large pink star-like scar at his side, the place where Chewbacca had shot him with his bowcaster. She remembered Ben punching the wound to further access the Dark side of the Force during their fight on Starkiller Base, and Rey couldn't bear to think how painful the wound must have been.

Ben took a small step back from her, causing her legs to drop from around him. He seemed to be judging her reaction cautiously. "I'm certainly scarred like a monster," he said, clearly referring to the insult she'd used towards him before.

Rey's heart tugged in her chest that Ben felt this way about himself, that he thought that she would be repelled by the scars that marked him. She reached her hand out and felt his abs, and his skin quivered beneath her fingertips. She then brazenly gripped the hem of his pants, yanking him back towards her, and he let out a surprised breath. Rey looked up into his eyes intently. "Ben, how can you be so insecure? Do you really not realize how attractive you are?" She asked, letting out a breathy laugh. Ben furrowed his brows, taken aback. Rey wrapped her legs back around him, pulling his body back into hers, and she reached her hand up to pull his face downward.

She kissed him ardently, her hands sliding against his abs, her fingers digging into the muscles straining beneath his soft skin. Ben seemed heartened by her reaction, and he cupped her face, kissing her more deeply in turn. Between kisses, Rey lifted her leg, leaning forward to pull her boot off, and Ben was quick to remove her other boot. He then dug his fingers into the thin fabric of her pants, sliding his hands along her thighs and up the bare flesh of her torso. Rey tightened her legs around him in response, and she felt a throbbing between her legs at the feel of him pressing into her.

Ben kissed her with more urgency as he continued to rub her thighs. Rey didn't need to press into his mind to realize that he recognized how much she enjoyed him feeling her up. Feeling restless and pent up, Rey pushed images of the bed in the corner of the AT-AT into Ben's mind, and he responded immediately. He slid his hands under legs, gripping her tightly and lifting her from the bureau as he pressed soft kisses to her lips. He carried her over to Rey's makeshift bed, and after sweeping the layer of dust off with the Force, he tossed her onto it.

The bed itself was mainly made up of thick woolen animal pelts and fabric blankets stacked on top of one another, with fabric pillows Rey had stitched together herself. On the whole, the bed was surprisingly comfy, and in this moment she was grateful that i was made large from the size of the giant animal pelts.

Rey's eyes skimmed over Ben's tall figure in the dimming light as he remained standing at the edge of the bed, never breaking his gaze from her as he pried off his boots. Her heart pounded in her chest in nervous excitement as she knew that once they were both in bed together, they will have passed the point of no return.

After Ben impatiently kicked off his second boot he got onto the bed, and Rey crawled over to him. Ben took her face in his hands and kissed her slowly, lovingly, his hand stroking up and down her back gently. Rey's heart surged in her chest at his tenderness, and after a few long moments she blinked open her eyes, only barely able to see him in the increasing darkness. She covered his hands with hers and moved them to her covered breasts, and he felt her gently. Even through the thick fabric, his hands on her chest felt rousing, and Rey began undoing the wrap.

Ben caught her wrist in his hand. "Wait," he said gently, stroking her cheek. She felt him pressing into her mind, searching around for something. When he seemed to have found it, he got off of the bed.

"Ben, what is it?" Rey asked, distraught. She heard him digging around in a small drawer nearby. He then moved to a shelf on the wall next to the bed.

"I want to see you," he said, striking a match. A small orange flame was ignited, and he touched the match to a candle on the shelf. He blew out the match and dropped it to the floor as he stepped back over to the bed.

The lighting in their corner of the AT-AT was still dim, but Rey could see Ben now, his body illuminated in a soft orange glow. He crawled over to Rey on the bed and pulled her back to him, guiding her back onto his lap. Rey wrapped her legs around his hips, and he sighed as she settled atop his hardened bulge. The feeling of Ben's erection sent a shiver up Rey's middle, and she wrapped her legs more snugly around Ben to feel him more. A small sound escaped Ben's mouth as she did so, and his hands moved up to the wrap around her chest. He pressed a kiss to her mouth as the wraps came undone, and he broke from her lips.

His eyebrows raised slightly as he took in the sight of her breasts, and he let out a breath. Rey knew her breasts were not large, and she thought they weren't much to look at. But Ben wrapped an arm around the back of her waist, pulling her into him and grasping one of her breasts with his other. He began to kiss her deeply, and she sighed as his thumb moved across her stiff nipple, the feeling of his hands on her electrifying. He squeezed her breast as he gently bit her lower lip, and a breathy sound escaped Rey's mouth.

Ben parted from their kiss and his face hovered inches from her as he looked her up and down. "You're so beautiful," he murmured as he met her eyes again. "I love your body. I love _you."_ He kissed her again, gripping the back of her head to press his lips deeply against hers. His lips slid lower, and Rey tilted her head back as he took her breast into his mouth, his hand sliding over the other.

" _Oh,"_ she breathed, entwining her fingers into his lush hair. She breathed heatedly as he sucked and kissed her breast, sending electric shivers throughout her body, to the damp place between her legs. She pressed his head to her chest, encouraging him, and he gently nipped her with his teeth, causing her entire body to jolt. Ben's hips raised up in response to her body's movements, and she throbbed down below. She clamped her lips shut as he began to suck at her other breast, trying to suppress the moans that wanted to escape.

After Ben had admired her breasts for a while longer, he began to kiss along her collarbone, trailing his lips up her neck and back to her lips. Rey gripped the sides of his face as he kissed her long and deep, his face pressing further into hers. His hands rubbed along her clothed legs, sliding to her inner thighs, and Rey let out a soft gasp, but his hands stopped there.

As his kisses grew shorter and more urgent, he began pushing his own lustful thoughts into Rey's mind, and Rey was overwhelmed by his fervent thirst. She felt her cheeks grow hot as she saw that Ben often imagined her naked beneath him, that he had always coveted her. She even glimpsed his blinding jealousy when he'd see her with other men, like Finn and Poe. Rey was shocked to find that he, _Kylo Ren,_ could be jealous, that he actually worried she would fall for someone else.

Rey broke from their kiss and looked into large, expressive eyes, stroking her knuckles down his cheek. "Ben, how could you ever think I'd choose someone over you?" She murmured. She smiled as she remembered something she'd told him before, when they'd been on his command shuttle travelling to the Azalea system. "We share a Force bond. You're stuck with me."

He looked at her with the same salacity as when he'd first revealed his face to her during the interrogation on Starkiller base years ago. _And I want to consummate that bond,_ Rey heard him think, and her heart began to race. Ben gripped her thigh, pulling it tighter around him, and he leaned his face against hers, kissing the side of her neck as he continued to pull her legs more tightly around him. His lips grazed her ear, and she shivered as she felt his hot breath on her skin. "I want to make love to you, Rey," he purred.

Rey's hands became balmy as she heard him say the words aloud. But she who had once been so eager to be intimate was now suddenly very anxious. She had read in books and had overheard the talk of prostitutes that intercourse was painful for women when it was their first time. Though she wanted to be with Ben in this way, Rey felt a cold shiver of fear as she began to worry about the pain, about Ben seeing her fully naked.

Ben pressed his lips to hers as he brought his hands to her shoulders, leaning his weight into her and pressing her down to the blankets below. Rey gripped his arms tightly, her hands trembling. He pulled her legs around his hips and buried his face into her neck, kissing and sucking her skin. One of his hands travelled between them to the waistline of her pants, and he began tugging them down.

"Ben, wait," Rey urged, and he hovered his face over hers, his heavy eyes shifting between her eyes and mouth. She pressed on his chest, urging him off of her. As Ben read the uneasiness on her face, he released the hem of her pants and slowly sat up. Rey sat up with him and slid from his lap.

"What is it?" Ben asked as he looked at her concernedly. Rey folded her arms across her breasts, suddenly feeling self-conscious. Ben sensed her apprehension and gently brushed her hair from her face as he waited for her to speak. Rey was grateful for how patient he was with her, despite his obvious sensual passion.

Rey shifted her face to the side before she spoke. "I'm never done this before," she said, looking at him askance.

Ben released a breath, giving her a sheepish smile. "I know," he said, nodding once. "I haven't either."

Rey raised her eyebrows, surprised. "You haven't been with any other women before?" She asked. She'd assumed he'd probably slept with many women, considering his good looks and that he was ten years her senior.

Ben shook his head, "No, I haven't. I kissed a girl once when I was training under Luke on Tatooine, but that was it," he chuckled, running a hand through his dark, tousled hair.

Rey felt relieved that he was as inexperienced as she, but her chest was still tight with anxiety.

Ben's smile faded as he looked at her attentively, and he rubbed her bare calf. "Rey, if you're not ready...we don't have to this," he said gently.

"No, no, I _want_ this," Rey pressed, leaning forward. "I trust you, I'm just...I'm afraid it will hurt," she said looking away sheepishly.

Ben leaned forward and tilted her chin up as he kissed her tenderly. "Since when is Rey Kenobi afraid?" He murmured teasingly, and Rey returned with a small smile. "We'll take it slow," he breathed, sliding a finger across her lower lip. "I'll be gentle."

Rey leaned into his face and kissed him lovingly, pressing a hand to his warm cheek, and he stroked a hand down through the length of her hair. Ben pressed his lips more firmly into hers as he covered her hand with his, lacing his fingers between hers. He hovered his lips over Rey's as he lifted her hand to her collarbone, holding it there. Ben looked at her affectionately as she met his gaze, wondering what he was doing. "Don't be afraid," he whispered, and he kissed her forehead. He pressed his hand further into hers.

Rey's lids fluttered as she felt a soothing warmth surging through her hand from his, seeping through her palm to her chest, flowing outward throughout her entire body. She let out a surprised breath she began to feel more relaxed, the tension in her chest leaving her. She kissed Ben gratefully, her heart swelling at his thoughtfulness.

He released his hand from hers, sliding it down to her hip as he leaned forward. But instead of pressing her back down to the bed, he moved up and lay next to her, propping his head atop the small fabric pillows. Rey leaned her face down to kiss him, and as she did so he wrapped a hand around the far wide of her waist, urging her on top of him. Rey acquiesced and gently positioned herself on his lap, straddling him. She rested her weight on Ben's shoulders as she leaned down and kissed him, and his hands slid along her back and hips. Rey pressed her hips further down into his as she felt his bulging pressure under her, and she liked the feeling. She grew frustrated that her capris hindered her from feeling him fully, and rose up from Ben's face as she began to undo the front clasp of her pants. She glanced across at Ben, his chest heaving and his gaze concentrated. She slid off of him a moment to slide her pants from her legs, revealing her simple panties beneath. Feeling her cheeks grow hot, Rey bit her lip as she straddled Ben again, and he abruptly sat up, his fingers pressing along her jaw as he kissed her deeply.

She gripped his shoulders, pushing him back down to the bed. She leaned down and mashed her lips into his, feeling his hard bulge more clearly now between her legs. Ben's hands slid up and down along her body, and he gripped at her behind, squeezing her there. Rey pressed her hips down into his, and Ben's hands rose to her hips, his fingers gripping into her flesh. As they kissed, he began to ease her hips up and forward, down and back with his hands, and Rey released he was teaching her. His breathing sounded bothered as he began to lift his hips with hers, moving with her in a slow, hypnotic rhythm. The throbbing Rey felt below increased twofold, and she began to grow impatient. She felt the moisture pooling between her legs, and she knew her body was ready for him, instinct taking over.

She kissed him open-mouthed as she slid her hand to the hard bulge straining his pants, and a breathy sound escaped Ben's parted mouth as she slid her hand along his member through the fabric, feeling its length. Ben sat up abruptly with her and kissed her excitedly, and Rey increased the pressure of her hand on his shaft. She hurriedly began undoing the buttons of his pants as she felt his wet mouth on her neck, and she pulled at the hem.

Ben suddenly gripped her forearms and flipped over atop her, pinning her arms to either side of her as he brushed his lips rashly against hers. He sat up beside her and tugged his black pants from his hips. He appeared flustered as he slid off of the bed to pull the clothing off of his lower legs, leaving only his snug black undershorts.

Rey sat up, her mouth opening as she admired his athletic form, his long, muscular legs, the sizable bulge at the front of his underwear. Ben's face turned ruddy as his smoldering dark eyes met hers, and he climbed back atop her. Rey spread her legs, bending her knees on either side of him as he settled between them. He rested most of his weight on his forearms, but he lowered his hips and chest to hers, letting out a shaking breath as he did so. Rey laced her fingers into his thick, soft hair as his glossy eyes flickered over her face for a silent moment.

As he began to kiss her, his mouth parted and his tongue brushed against hers. His hands pressed into her skin lustfully as he slowly grinded his hips against hers, increasing the pressure of his kiss in turn. Rey let out a soft sigh as she felt his member between their thin remaining undergarments, and the sensations that flooded her as he pressed his hips against her drove her wild. Ben slid a hand from her breast down to the warm, damp space between her legs. Rey shuddered began to massage her through the fabric, his kisses sporadic as he observed her face.

Rey's head tilted back from his as he increased the pressure of his hand between her legs, and he watched her intently, savoring her reactions. Rey whimpered as he sped up the rubbing motions of his hand. Soon, he lifted his hand from her, and Rey shifted her legs, not wanting him to stop. His dark eyes turned sultry as he began sliding her underwear off of her. Rey's cheeks flushed crimson as he crawled down her, sliding the fabric slowly down her legs.

He tossed her panties aside and Rey suddenly felt shy as Ben observed the place he had just unveiled. Rey leaned her knees together as he looked her body up and down, drinking in the sight of her full form, her womanhood. "You're stunning, Rey," he breathed, his eyes glistening, and Rey knew he meant what he said. His breathing became throaty as he tried to push her knees apart, but Rey stretched her leg out, pushing her foot against his chest. He furrowed his brows at her, and she gave him a coquettish smile.

"Now show me yours," she said, dragging her foot down from his chest.

Ben's jaw shifted he stared at her a moment, his expression softening. He lifted on his knees and looked down as he began to slowly slide his undershorts off. His erect shaft sprung out from the hem of the tight fabric, and Rey lifted onto her elbows, her round eyes affixed to his ample manhood. It was even larger than she'd thought, and she swallowed, her anxiety returning.

Ben met her gaze after he'd dropped his underwear onto the floor, and he moved forward, spreading her legs with his hands as he crawled back on top of her. His eyes were stirring, hungry. Rey tilted her head as she studied his strange appendage below. _How is that going to fit inside me?_ She thought, her heart racing.

 _Don't worry, Rey,_ Ben returned, releasing an amused breath as he followed her gaze. He positioned himself over her, resting his weight on his forearms on either side of her shoulders. He kissed her, his torso resting gently on top of her. Rey grew curious, and she slid her hand down his abs to his member, and she heard Ben let out a husky breath as she grasped it, feeling it with her fingers. Ben ducked his head to his chest for a moment as she slid her hand along it, and she began to enjoy his reactions as she gently squeezed him.

" _Rey,"_ he breathed, and he took her hand from his shaft, interlacing his fingers with hers and stretched her arm above her head on the blankets. He kissed her deeply, lowering his body fully to hers, and he ground his hard shaft gently against her, and she sighed. With his free hand, Ben massaged between her legs again, stretching her other hand further above her head as he kissed her neck. Almost involuntarily, Rey's hips pushed up against his hand, her entire body writhing beneath him. She felt as if she were ascending a dizzying physical peak, and she felt a knotting sensation in her lower belly. She wanted Ben to relieve it.

"You're so wet, Rey," he breathed into her ear, his hot breath on her skin causing her to shiver. He released his hand from her hers above her head and placed it at his side to hold himself up so he could watch her face.

Rey knew this was a good thing, that her natural lubrication would allow his member to slip inside her. She leaned her head back as he slid a finger into her slit, and she moaned. He gently bit at her ear as he slid his finger in and out of her, and her hips jerked at the frenzied sensations coursing through her. Ben added a second finger, and he pressed along her inner walls, taking time to feel her inside.

But Rey wanted his hand to move faster, to release the tension building below, and she pushed this into Ben's mind as she looked determinedly up at him. She was flustered as he slid his fingers from her and brought them to his mouth, and she was surprised as he sucked her fluids off of his fingers.

The muscles in Ben's arms strained as he lowered back onto his forearms over her, and he took a moment to position himself. Rey's breathing was staggered as his mouth lowered and found hers, and he took her lips in his, drawing out his kisses. He reached a hand down and grasped his member, and Rey shuddered in anticipation as she felt it pressing at her small entrance. "Tell me if it's too painful, if you need me to stop," he said in a deep, breathy voice.

Ben gently thrusted himself into her, and Rey released a small cry at the sudden pain. Ben hurriedly leaned his face down to kiss her. She gripped his arms tightly, feeling her inner walls being stretched by him, straining to accommodate his size. As their lips parted, Ben pulled back and gently pushed his member inwards again, and Rey whimpered, her insides stinging. He repeated the movement, more smoothly this time, and Rey couldn't help but bite into his arm next to her face against the pain.

"Do you need me to stop?" Ben asked, breathing heavily. Rey shut her eyes and shook her head. His manhood felt achingly invasive within her, but it wasn't unbearable. Looking up into his dark, beautiful eyes, Rey sensed the physical pleasure on his end, and she didn't want to take that away from him, from one who was used to so much physical suffering.

Ben pressed a wet kiss to her mouth as he began to gently thrust into her, picking up a slow, prolonged rhythm. He hovered his face over hers, brushing his lips against hers with each movement. Rey winced with each of his thrusts, and she raised her hands up his arms, digging her fingers into his back.

"I'm sorry," Ben breathed as he watched her facial expressions. He lowered his head and burrowed his face into the hollow of her neck, kissing her damp skin, hoping to assuage her pain.

Rey felt Ben's hot, labored breathing at her ear, and the knotting feeling in her lower belly began to return. A soft grunt escaped Ben's mouth as he began to pick of the pace of his thrusting, entering her slightly deeper. Rey whimpered, gripping onto his strong back, but she felt her inner walls stretching for him, yielding to his invasive size.

Soon, the stinging pain below began to turn into something else altogether for Rey. With each of his strokes, Rey began to feel increasing waves of pleasure, and soft sounds escaped her lips as he rocked into her.

Ben moved his face back over hers, sensing her physical change, and he kissed her deeply, his lips parting hers. Rey kissed him back as her hand tugged his hair, her own pleasure building alongside his. She wrapped her legs up around his hips, encouraging him, and Ben thrusted deeper into her.

"Ah, _Ben,"_ she sighed, and she felt his flurry of enticement at the sound of her voice.

He slid a hand down between her legs, rubbing her again. "Finish with me, Rey," Ben said gruffly between kisses.

The air itself seemed to be sucked towards them both as Rey writhed beneath Ben's thrusts. She was beginning to enjoy the feeling of his shaft within her. He rubbed her quickly, his hand swirling and pressing at the hot spot between her thighs. She felt herself climbing the physical peak, sweat beading at her hairline, and she gripped the blankets at her sides. Rey moaned, and Ben kissed her as sounds continued to escape her mouth. He thrusted with more force, continuing to stimulate her with his hand, and Rey felt him nearing his own climax.

Rey was barely able to hear the creaking and straining of the metal structure in their corner of the AT-AT as the Force was drawn to them both. With several deep thrusts, Ben mashed his lips to Rey's, and she felt her legs shaking, her stomach clenching as her body was about to tip over the edge.

Relieved moans escaped Rey and Ben's mouths as they both reached their climaxes, and Rey's toes curled as her inner walls tightened and clenched around Ben' pulsing shaft. Rey let out a shaking breath at the warmth she felt as Ben expelled himself within her, his seed filling her inside.

Ben collapsed atop her, his face tucked above her head. Rey panted, struggling for air as his large body squashed her, but she also liked the feeling of him smothering her, inside and out. She rubbed his shoulder, gently pushing it, and he slowly lifted onto his forearms again over her. His damp, dark hair hung down off of his forehead as he kissed her slowly, savoring her. Rey felt his member softening inside of her, and he lowered, pulling himself out of her.

He wrapped an arm around her middle, pulling her on top of him as he lay on his back. With heavy lids he looked into up at her, the soft orange glow of the candlelight reflecting in his moist eyes. He leaned his face up and brushed his lips against Rey's affectionately. "I'm sorry if I hurt you," he murmured, brushing her hair from her face.

Rey smiled as she moved his own hair from his forehead, which clung to his skin from sweat. "It wasn't that bad," she said. "I got better," she said, raising an eyebrow.

Ben smiled back and kissed her, running his hand through her hair at the back of her head. When he lowered his head, he brushed at his eyes, and Rey saw just how moist they were.

"Are you— _crying?"_ She asked, scoffing.

Ben furrowed his brows and turned his face. "No, why—of course not," he said quickly, frowning. But the emotions he emitted through their bond betrayed him.

"Why are you crying?" She asked gently, turning his face back to her.

Ben rubbed his forearm over his eyes as a tear slid down his cheek. He blinked sheepishly. "I just—I never thought something could feel so _good."_

Rey laughed, dropping her face down to his chest.

"Hey, you asked," he said. He lifted her face from his chest, tiling her chin upwards to gaze at her. Rey's own emotions almost got the best of her as Ben's eyes studied her face with the look of pure endearment.

Rey pressed her hands to Ben's cheeks and kissed him dotingly, and he stroked a hand down through her hair. She slid off of him to pick up a spare blanket from the ground, and as she did so she winced, feeling soreness within her.

Ben helped her drape the blanket over them as Rey tucked her body alongside his, wrapping her right arm across his chest. Ben kissed her forehead and slid his robust arm under her head to cradle it, and Rey draped her right leg across his as she leaned into the side of his body, taking in his warmth. Rey felt strangely empowered through the Force as she laid with him, but she couldn't quite place why or how.

As she drifted off to sleep with Ben, Rey didn't think of the raging Galactic war, or of the future of her and Ben's relationship. Rather, as she snuggled into him, she thought of something much simpler: how, like in one of her old fairy tales, her life had come full-circle: in the place where she had once felt so rootless, so alone, she now felt so secure, so _loved._

* * *

 _Our blushing lovers seem to have reunited nicely. And Ben seems to have quite the package! Matt the radar tech's friend was right, Ben_ is _shredded. Bet he has an 8-pack too...Rey perhaps didn't have as good a time as Ben did on this fine Jakku night, but you know what they say-sex gets better with time ;) Thanks for reading, hope you guys enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I did writing it (you didn't)._ _Love me some fluffy loves scenes. I like writing complete stories, but I'm looking forward to writing more smut with these two. I feel like we need some smut from Ben's perspective._


	8. Chapter 7: Grey

_Sorry for the wait, friends—don't worry, I haven't given up on you and our Reylo lovers! Happy reading._

* * *

"Finn! Buddy!" Poe exclaimed. "Can you hear me?"

There was some static through the X-wing's transmission before Finn's voice broke through to the pilot. "Poe! I'm leading my squad to you, I have the transport ship. Took longer than I thought, and Maz decided to come along too, she's here with me. Do you already have Jess and BB-8?"

Poe's face turned serious as he stared down at his ship's scanners, watching the dots of Finn's second squadron as they caught up to his own. "We've got Jess, but we didn't get BB-8 back," he said, his voice lowering. "And we lost Rey."

"Wait— _what?_ You _lost_ her?"

"She went down to the planet—an Empire base, it's nearby," Poe said, deciding not to mention how Rey had rendered him unconscious with the Force. "But she left the planet and went somewhere else, so now we're following her."

"She went to the planet alone?" Finn asked.

"She knocked Poe out, and we couldn't just leave him vulnerable, floating around near an enemy base," Vern said.

"Knocked him out?" Finn asked confusedly.

"Y'know, with the Force, or whatever," Vern said.

"It was nothing, Finn," Poe reassured. "She was just upset about something, she—she _wanted_ to go to the planet alone."

There was a pause before Finn answered. "She went to see Kylo Ren, didn't she?" He asked knowingly.

"I guess so," Poe said flatly, his jaw tightening. He dropped his gaze from the intercom as his heart clenched in his chest.

"Then—wait, _wait,_ how did Jess escape?"

"Actually, Finn...Kylo Ren _helped_ me escape," Jess piped up. "I think he used some sort of mind control thing on the stormtroopers to distract them—he led me right to a TIE fighter on the base."

" _What?"_ Finn blurted.

"Hey, guys, I think I've pinpointed the location of Rey's X-wing on my mapping scanners," Poe interjected. "It looks like she's on Jakku."

"Ja—JA _KKU?!"_ Finn shouted exasperatedly. Muffled banging sounded over the intercom. "You've _got_ to be kidding me!"

"Finn, _buddy,_ calm down," Poe said. "We'll just touch down, get Rey, see what's up with her, and bring her back home."

"You're telling me Kylo _Ren...saved_ Jess, and now we're going back to that hellhole, _Jakku?_ What kind of Fantazi mushrooms have you guys been smoking since I've been gone?" Finn cried. "Poe, if you think I'm going to Jakku with you, you have _another_ thing coming."

...

The next thing Finn knew, he was steering his transport ship with Maz Kanata after Poe's X-wing, grumbling under his breath as they neared the deplorable red rock whose name he refused to even acknowledge.

….

Ben slowly rose to consciousness from his deep sleep. He tightened his arm around Rey's waist, pulling her back flush against his chest. He'd possessively spooned her like this almost the entire night, except when she'd briefly left the bed in the middle of the night to cleanse herself with a towel at a small water vessel in an alcove of the AT-AT. As she'd tip-toed back to the bed, Ben had gotten up to do the same.

Now, he smiled to himself as he felt her side slowly rise and fall underneath his arm. Ben slid his hand slowly up and down her stomach, never wanting her to leave his embrace. He blinked his eyes open to the soft, dim light of daybreak, and he became increasingly aware of the sweat sliding down his forehead, as well as his familiar morning erection below the blankets.

He gazed at the back of Rey's head and neck, admiring the way the soft glow of sunlight turned her hair a golden honey color. His eyes flickered over the several faint purplish spots on the skin of her neck, the marks left on her from his own mouth. The memories of the night surged through his mind, and Ben had the urge to wake Rey now, to roll over on top of her and make drowsy love to her. But he stopped himself, forcing himself to hold back these drives and let her sleep.

Ben became distracted from his bodily impulses as he sensed Rey's mind churning. Intrigued, he gently rested his hand against the side of her head to see inside her dreams, just as he had when when she'd been unconscious in his temporary hideout on Zephus, when he'd been more than eager to get into her head once again.

As he closed his eyes and accessed her dreams, he saw a dizzying, swirling glow of electric blue—his old lightsaber—and the brilliant green of swaying trees amid a scene of white sand and a sparkling blue ocean. _The island,_ Ben thought, recognizing it from his own dreams. He blinked his eyes open a moment, astonished. When he closed them again, he saw the furry, spiked back of a nexu in front of a snowy backdrop. He laughed softly under his breath, remembering how easily Rey had downed the nexu on Drecenia, and how she'd felt compassion towards it and spared its life.

Ben saw a flash of a large, pinkish male figure, one he'd remembered seeing briefly in Rey's head before when he'd interrogated her on Starkiller Base— _Unkar,_ he recalled. On Starkiller he'd seen Rey's memories of how she brought the man scavenged metal pieces almost every day to trade for food portions. Ben felt another deep pang of sympathy for how hard her life had been, how she'd always had to work and struggle for something as basic as food. Things like food and running water had always been readily available to him, and taking into account Rey's former life and makeshift home within the AT-AT, he realized just how much he'd taken these things for granted.

As Ben saw the image of Unkar again, he heard threats beginning to spew out of the gelatinous figure's mouth, some of them sexual. Ben's face twitched in alarm. _Are these just dreams?_ He thought in a huff. He pushed further into Rey's unconsciousness and realized that these flashes of Unkar were _memories._ He let out a flustered breath, fury beginning to boil within his veins.

His sensed his flaring temper waking Rey, and he quickly slid his hand from her head, pulling out of her mind. Despite his heated emotions, he felt his knotting chest beginning to relax as he felt Rey rising to consciousness, her legs rubbing against his as she shifted and stretched her body. He heard her let out a soft sigh, and he slid his arm back around her side, pulling her snugly into him. "Sorry I woke you," he whispered huskily near her ear. He slid his hand up and lowered the blanket from on top of them, exposing her tan shoulders and back. He pressed a kiss to the top of her shoulder, resting his hand back on her smooth stomach.

Rey placed her hand atop his and turned her rosy face to look back at him. "It's okay," she whispered. "I had a bit of a nightmare." She blinked slowly, her eyes moving around his face. "Were you in my head?"

Ben hesitated to speak, but he couldn't lie to her, not with their mental bond being as strong as it was now. "Yes," he admitted. "I wanted to see into your dreams." He leaned forward and gently kissed her lips, brushing her soft hair from her damp forehead. "I love you," he breathed against her mouth, looking sleepily down into her half-lidded eyes. She smiled and brushed her nose up against his. "I love you too," she said.

They kissed again, and Rey turned and lowered her head back onto its side on the pillow. Ben let out a long breath and burrowed his face into the back of her neck, taking in her honeyed, hypnotic scent.

Rey shifted as Ben slid his hand down to her thigh, rubbing his hand slowly up and down her soft skin. Rey scooted further back into him in response, and she let out a surprised breath. He presumed this was from her fully feeling his hardened shaft against her lower back, and he smiled in amusement as he kissed her shoulder again. He dug his fingers into the flesh of her strong thigh, no longer able to fight his brazen desires. Rey attempted to turn her body to face him, but he gripped her shoulder, pressing his chest against her back to keep her in place.

His hand slid around to her front and began squeezing her breasts. His breathing grew husky as he kissed the side of her neck. Rey's legs slid against his, and Ben sensed the pleasure she was getting from his touch and his kisses. His heart raced in his chest as he heard her breathing quicken. " _Ben,"_ she breathed dreamily.

A feverish stir rippled through Ben at the sound of her saying his name. Rey attempted again to turn her body to face him, and this time he let her. She rolled over onto her other side, facing him, and Ben took a moment to take in the sight of her body in daylight, the way her breasts were illuminated in the warm yellowish glow. He leaned in and wrapped an arm around her waist, kissing her deeply. He slid his hand lower to grip her behind, and Rey kissed him back slowly, sleepily. Ben wanted to elicit more of a response from her. He moved his hand to her stomach and slid down between her legs. He watched Rey as she shut her eyes, leaning her face into the pillow as he rubbed his hand back and forth between her soft folds. He rubbed harder, and Rey opened her eyes as she jolted and winced, grabbing his arm to stop him.

"It hurts right now, Ben," she breathed, her face pinching. She moved his arm up from between her legs. "I don't think...I can't right now, again," she said vaguely, biting her lip.

Although he had gotten himself worked up, Ben nodded reassuringly, kissing her. "I'm sorry, it's okay," he said, hoping he hadn't overwhelmed her with his forwardness. "We don't ever have to do it again, if you don't want to. Once was enough for me," he fibbed, trying his best to sound earnest.

Rey scoffed, twirling her fingers in his hair. "You're lying to me, Ben Solo."

He let out a breathy laugh as he traced his finger across her lower lip. His eyes trailed over the shining strands of her hair, the tiny freckles scattered across her dewy skin, the alluring way the sunlight glinted in her eyes. "I wish I could lay with you forever," he mused, gliding his thumb down her jaw to her chin.

Rey smiled, but there was a seriousness in her expression. "I do too," she said softly. Shifting her gaze, she nestled herself into his chest, and Ben wrapped his arms around her. He held her into him, squeezing her small frame. As he tucked his head above hers, Ben felt a developing sorrow at the reality of their situation, and he sensed that Rey was feeling the same way. He knew that they were both were confronting the reality that they could not stay here in the AT-AT forever, that they'd have to leave each other soon, to return to their own sides.

"You're...you're leaving again," She whispered into his chest.

Ben felt her body shake, and he gripped her tighter. He rolled onto his back with her in his snug embrace, pulling her atop him with the blanket draped over her lower back. As he gazed up into her moist eyes, he brushed away a tear dripping down her face. "No more tears," he soothed, shaking his head slowly. "No more sorrow."

He pressed a hasty kiss up to her mouth and Rey held his face between her hands, searching his eyes. "But why can't you just come back with me?" She breathed. "Why can't you leave the Empire?" He felt her sliding into his mind, and he continued to look up into her bright eyes as he showed her: of his need to remain with the Empire for intel, of his strategic wins and losses of battles to maintain the image of his loyalty, of his foremost desire to keep her safe, regardless of the sacrifices that required. Rey lowered her forehead down to his as she pulled out his mind, breathing heavily. "But when will we see each other again?"

"Soon," Ben said, brushing her hair from her face and leaning up to kiss her. He looked earnestly up into her teary eyes. "We'll see each other again soon, Rey. We'll find each other when we need to—we'll figure it out. We can hear each other again, remember—we'll communicate," he said, sliding his hand down her arm.

He leaned up onto his elbows and kissed her slowly, savoring the sensation. He felt himself growing stiffer below, and he broke from the kiss, gently sliding Rey off of his lap onto the bed to his side. He wanted her badly, and as much as it pained him to break from her contact he knew he couldn't suppress his desires until he separated from her body. He slid from the bed, taking a blanket with him as he self-consciously wrapped it around his hips, feeling Rey's eyes on his back.

Rey slid to her own feet, pulling at the other blanket draped across the makeshift bed and wrapping it around her. She let out a surprised breath, and Ben turned to see her hurriedly pulling the remaining top blankets from the bed. His brows raised when he saw a red flash of blood on the material, and Rey stared across at him, her cheeks flushing. "I-I know it's normal, since it was my first time," she said sheepishly.

Ben moved towards her, and she tossed the blankets onto the ground in a small heap. "I'm sorry it hurt for you, last night," he said, his brows pinching together. "I dare say I enjoyed it more than you did." Rey held onto the blanket wrapped around her as she looked up at him. He cupped her face and kissed her tenderly, and he felt her relax.

Rey gently parted from the kiss to speak. "Well, towards the end...it was good," she said, searching his eyes and biting her lip.

Ben gave her a knowing half smile and raised an eyebrow. "Pretty good," he returned, nodding, and she laughed under her breath as he leaned down to kiss her again. Feeling sly, he bent down and abruptly lifted her, bridal style. She giggled as he carried her back to the bed and tossed her onto it, her blanket slipping down from under her arms as she landed. Ben looked her body up and down as her breasts and stomach were exposed, and she shyly pulled the blanket back around her.

Ben pointed a scolding finger down at her, raising his eyebrow. "It's time for you to get dressed, now, Scavenger," he teased, his mouth curling into a half smile. Rey smiled up at him demurely, and his heart skipped a beat in his chest. He turned and she watched him as he made his way to the side of the bed to pick up her panties. He smiled mischievously as flung them directly at her with the Force.

" _Ben!"_ She laughed as they landed on her shoulder. He made his way around the AT-AT, collecting bits of her clothes and Force-throwing them at her as she laughed and began dressing herself with each new item.

As he gathered his own clothes, Ben snuck glances over at Rey as she removed her blanket, pulling her pants on and rewrapping the thick white fabric around her breasts. She watched in turn watched him as he dressed, and he noticed her brows raise as he rewrapped his arms with the Force, quickly winding the fabric around his arms with a spinning gesture of his opposite hands.

"I never thought to do it that way," Rey said, tilting her head as she sat on the edge of the bed, yanking on her boots.

"Luke never taught you that?" He asked teasingly, moving towards her.

"Hey, let's not get into all of that again," she warned, raising an eyebrow.

"He's teaching you more now, though, isn't he?" Ben asked seriously.

Rey nodded up at him. "Yes, he is. He's a _really_ good teacher." Ben frowned at her statement, and she rose from the bed to press her hand to his cheek. "But so are you," she laughed, pressing a kiss up to his mouth. Ben kissed her back, cupping her face gently. He pressed into her mind, wanting to see some of her training with his uncle. As they began to kiss open-mouthed, Ben shifted through her thoughts, consuming her mind and recent memories as she opened them to him. But a particular memory he saw caused him to flinch, and he broke suddenly from their kiss, his mouth remaining open in astonishment.

"' _Flygirl?'"_ He exclaimed, his brows furrowing together in disgust. "How dare—he calls you ' _flygirl?'"_ His chest puffed as his temper flared. His mind became a sudden red haze as he felt the Dark side of the Force rising within him.

Rey took a step back from him, seeming to sense his violent temper. She stared across at him in desperate confusion. "Ben—what's with you? Calm down," she urged, her brows knitting together.

Ben grinded his jaw as he remembered the Organa pilot, the one that even his mother seemed to adore. "I will not _calm down_ as long as that _pilot_ is giving you kriffing _pet_ names," he spat. For a few moments, he silently fumed, but as he sensed Rey's dismay he began to relax his posture and loosen his fists.

"Ben," Rey said, her voice pleading, "I _don't_ want to fight. Why are you doing this?"

Ben's face softened as he looked across at her, and he took in a deep breath. He stepped back towards Rey, his chest twisting in self-hatred. "Rey, I'm...I'm sorry," he said softly. But Rey's face didn't soften as he traced his hand down her warm cheek. Glancing away, he shut his eyes tightly and lowered his head. "I didn't mean to lash out, I didn't—I-I just don't…" he trailed, unable to formulate what he really wanted to say.

"You just don't want someone to take me away from you," she said knowingly, gripping his wrapped arm.

Ben turned his face back towards hers, his eyes flickering over her face with ardent fondness. He nodded silently.

Rey wrapped her arms around him and leaned into his chest, hugging him tightly. He in turn held her in his embrace, pressing a hand to the back of her head.

"I haven't seen you for so long, I was so afraid that you'd finally fallen for someone else...or that maybe you'd never existed at all, that you were even just a dream," he said, resting his head atop hers.

Rey shook her head against his chest. _I'm right here, Ben...I'll always choose you. I'll always love_ you, she pressed into his mind. _Even if you're with the Empire, even if you're a Sith._

Ben felt his heart swell with love as she released these thoughts, and he smiled to himself. _I'm only a Sith in title,_ he reminded her. _I've failed the ways of the Sith._

 _And I've failed the ways of the Jedi with my attachment to you...so l'm only a Jedi in title as well,_ Rey responded. She leaned back from him and he rested his hands on her upper arms. Rey searched his face as she looked up at him, her eyes like glinting mirrors, and Ben sensed her mind churning. "If you're not a Sith, and I'm not a Jedi...then what does that make us?" She wondered.

Ben thought for a moment as he studied her glistening hazel eyes. "I don't know," he finally said, shaking his head slowly. "I guess that puts us in between the two."

Rey's lashes fluttered as she smiled up at him, and for a moment his breath caught in his throat at her sheer beauty. "If we're stuck in between the Dark and the Light because of our Force bond, I guess that would make us... _Grey,"_ she mused, scrunching her nose.

Ben pressed a doting kiss to her forehead before smiling fondly down at her. "Then the Grey is where I'd like to stay."


	9. Chapter 8: Day and Knight

_Thanks for reading, my dear Padawans! Love reading the comments, they help keep me going. Fluff, sadness, and perhaps some Dark!Ben ahead..._

* * *

Rey wrapped her arms up around the back of Ben's neck as they kissed slowly. Ben's hand traced up and down her back, and she leaned herself into him. Ben gently broke from the kiss, and Rey met his dark, effulgent eyes.

His gaze flickered to the ground a moment before meeting hers again. "Rey," he said. "I have to go."

Rey swallowed, her brows pinching together as she ran her fingers through his mussed hair. She studied the faint purplish color that remained under his eyes, realizing that his overall complexion appeared healthier today. Rey could sense Ben's heartbeat quickening without having to touch him.

Ben turned to look back over his shoulder, sensing something, and Rey moved her hand to his jaw, turning his face back down to hers. "Stay, just a while longer," she urged, gripping his arm.

Ben shook his head, taking her hand in his. "Your friends are on their way here. I sense a Force-sensitive among them."

"Who?" Rey asked curiously, leaning closer into him.

"Maz Kenata," he said, his gaze drifting. "I recognize her signature in the Force."

Rey reflected on Maz, how long ago it had been since she'd last seen her. She knew that Maz had gone back to Takodana after Luke had held her in custody on the Organa base during Rey's absence. Maz had refused to speak to Luke even after he'd released her upon Rey's return.

Ben leaned down and placed a soft kiss down to her lips. Rey felt a painful tug in her chest as their lips slowly parted. Ben's eyes lingered on hers as he took her hand, and he turned and led her out of the AT-AT. He stopped just outside of its entrance, the breeze lifting the dark tendrils of his hair.

"Promise me we'll see each other again soon," Rey insisted, looking imploringly up at him. She squeezed his hand as her heart beat heavily in her chest.

Ben's eyebrows quivered as he took her other hand and clasping them together between his. "Rey, I don't think I _have_ the strength to keep myself from you...especially now," he said, his dark eyes intense. His jaw shifted as he appeared to be in deep thought, his eyes flickering around her. "It won't be safe, but...we can try to meet again somewhere—surely we can get away from the war, just for a day or so..." he trailed.

"We'll find a way," Rey said encouragingly, nodding. Her eyes grew bright at his suggestion. "We'll form Force shields like the one we're in now, the one around my ship. That way, no one can sense us...not even Snoke."

Ben's eyes narrowed and he nodded. He stepped closer to her, his eyes flickering over her face as he released her hands. "We'll meet each other somewhere, but it must be kept secret...a tryst," he said, his eyes stirring. "I can't risk anyone knowing about this, about us, or you'll be put into real danger."

Rey saw that he was thinking about the vision they'd shared of the Organa troops turning on her. "I don't care," she said, shaking her head. "Even if this turns my side against me. I can handle myself," she said, sliding her hand down his cheek. Ben's eyelashes fluttered, and he leaned into her touch. As her hand dropped back to her side, Ben's dark eyes glistened warmly.

"I know you can," he said, nodding once. The corner of his mouth tugged up into a small smile. He brushed the hair off of her forehead and gently held her chin. "We'll find each other. I promise," he said. He kissed her forehead before resting his own forehead down to hers, interlacing his gloved fingers between her own.

With his head resting against hers, Rey felt a soothing warmth flowing through the contact, flooding down her neck like a cottony liquid, spreading through her body to the the ends of her toes, the tips of her fingers. It was the same warm sensation that Ben had transferred through her the night before, when he'd pressed his hand over hers to her own chest.

The two stood like this for a few long moments, the ends of Ben's black cowl blowing against Rey's shoulders in the breeze. "What power is that?" Rey asked quietly, leaning away to look up at him.

"What do you mean?" Ben asked softly.

"What you just did, that...feeling. You did that last night, too. Is it something you've learned through the Light side or the Dark?" She asked.

Ben shook his head once, his dark eyes focused on hers. "Neither," he said, his brows raising. "It's love...the purest form of the Force."

Rey stared at him a moment, her cheeks flushing. "Love?" She repeated, blinking.

He nodded, tracing his fingers down her sides. "I hadn't known the Force could work in this way...that is, until I met you," he said, his eyes flashing. "It can't be accessed only through the Light; a Jedi isn't allowed to have romantic attachments. But love cannot be found through the Dark side, either. I guess it's in the balance between the two."

"The Grey," Rey said, her brows raising.

"Yes, the Grey," Ben said, smiling. He gazed admiringly down into her eyes. He tilted his head as he appeared to study the side of her neck. He brushed her hair off of her shoulder and hovered his gloved hand over her skin, and Rey read in his mind that he was going to heal the bruises he'd left on her neck last night. Frowning, she gripped his arm.

"No," she said. "I wanted to be reminded that you were there."

Ben lowered his brows. "Rey, we can't let them see. I don't think you realize how obvious this is," he said raising an eyebrow. He moved his hand over the skin of her neck.

"Alright," Rey acceded. She waited patiently as Ben closed his eyes and concentrated on healing the bruises on her neck. Rey studied his boyish face, the curve of his brows, the thin, faint scar that snaked from the middle of his forehead down to his jaw. The wind blew strands of his dark hair across his forehead, and in the bright light of day, Rey admired the different hues in his wavy hair, the deep umber tones illuminated in the sunlight.

As Ben opened his eyes, he stroked his hand along her cheek. A warm smile formed on Rey's face as she leaned up to kiss him, and Ben leaned down to meet her halfway. As they kissed, Rey curiously shifted through his thoughts, taking in some of his recent memories with the Empire, and she felt him reading her own. Her brows lowered as he began pushing her out of his mind. She was only able to get a flash of his memories, but they were all dark and lonesome, save for an image of a BB-8.

Rey leaned back from Ben, searching his dark hazel eyes. "You have BB-8?" She asked incredulously.

Ben's eyes grew round. "Well, yes, I prevented him from being destroyed," he said vaguely, but Rey sensed that he was attempting to hide his attachment to the little droid.

"You need to release him—he belongs to Poe," Rey urged, but she immediately regretted having said her friend's name.

Ben narrowed his eyes and leaned away from her. "The droid stays with me, I'm not giving it back to that _pilot."_

"Ben," Rey said gently, rubbing his arm. He took in a deep breath, and his eyes softened as he looked down at her. He opened his mouth to speak, but instead he abruptly turned his head to the side. Rey sighed as she herself sensed Maz's approach. Ben turned and met her gaze again, his expression wistful. "I must go," he said, his voice soft. He ran a gloved hand through her hair and slid it down her wrapped arm. Rey shuddered at his touch. "I can't endanger you. I need your friends on your side to keep you safe."

But Ben wavered in place, and Rey sensed his heavy reluctance to part from her. She felt his emotions so strongly, it took her a moment to realize who they belonged to. She pressed her hand up to his cheek, searching his eyes. "Kiss me," she implored. He cupped her face and wrapped an arm around her lower back, pulling her into him as he kissed her deeply. Rey shut her eyes tight as she gripped his upper arm. They kissed for a few long moments, and slowly parted as Maz's presence grew nearer.

"I love you," Ben murmured, his brows quivering as his moist eyes searched hers. His mouth still open, Ben began to trudge backwards through the sand, his expression dazed as he backed away from her.

"We'll see each other again soon," Rey said. "I believe that," she added more quietly.

Ben nodded once, a plaintive smile on his lips.

"And Ben," Rey called, stepping forward. Her brows pinched together as her mouth straightened into a line. _Take care of yourself._

Ben nodded solemnly. _May the Force be with you._

 _And also with you,_ she returned.

Rey watched as he turned around, trekking through the thick sand away from the AT-AT. He turned over his shoulder several times to gaze back at her, a look of longing on his face.

But Rey did not feel as somber this time he was leaving her; instead, she felt a comforting warmth, confident that they would in fact see each other again soon.

As Ben's dark silhouette shifted and blurred into a mirage on the dusty horizon, Rey took in a long, deep breath, watching until she could no longer see him. She looked down at the sand beneath her feet, shifting her posture as she became more aware of the growing soreness between her legs. Sensing Maz's proximity, Rey turned and reentered the AT-AT, realizing she needed to hide the bloodied pile of blankets.

As she stuffed the blankets into a low drawer, she rose and stared across at the messy bed where she and Ben had made love, where she'd slept in his warm embrace all night, safe and secure. Rey already missed the feeling of his strong arms around her, his deep, even breathing on the back of her shoulder. _If only I'd been able to sleep as soundly here my entire life,_ she mused. She reflected on Ben's words when he'd read her mind on Starkiller Base: _At night...desperate to sleep...you'd imagine an ocean. I see it...I see the island..._

 _Rey._

Rey jolted as she sensed Ben's presence in her head. She'd nearly forgotten their reforged mental connection. _Ben!_ She returned, a smile spreading across her face.

 _Remove the Force field from your X-wing so Maz can sense you and your friends can find you,_ he said.

She scampered out through the entrance of the AT-AT, but as soon as her feet made contact with the unstable sand outside she staggered to a walk. She winced and pressed a hand to her lower belly. She walked more carefully through the thick sand to the X-wing.

 _You're in pain,_ she heard Ben say. _I sense it._

 _I'm fine,_ she returned. _Just a little strain._

As she stopped before her ship, she held her hands out to remove the Force field, but paused.

 _Wait...how can we hear and feel each other if I'm in the Force field, and you're outside of it?_ She questioned.

Ben took a few moments to respond. _I'm not sure...maybe our bond has been made stronger. Perhaps…_

 _From last night?_ Rey postulated. She felt herself blush as she remembered Ben on top of her, the feeling of his manhood stretching her insides, the overwhelming physical peak that had sent powerful ripples through them both…

 _Perhaps,_ Ben said succinctly.

Her cheeks hot, Rey bit back a smile and closed her eyes. She concentrated as she began breaking down the Force field centered on the X-wing. She felt the thinning of the Force in the air around her as the field dissolved away.

When she had finished, Rey turned and made her way back into the AT-AT. She stood in the entrance, wondering what to do now that she was alone again. She looked back over to the bed, her heart swelling.

She made her way over to the alcove and stretched herself out atop the tousled, makeshift bed, still feeling the residual warmth of love that Ben had flooded through her at the contact of their heads. As she settled onto her stomach on the blankets, Rey smiled to herself as she found that Ben's musky scent remained.

….

It wasn't long before Rey began to hear the low hum of spacecraft approaching. She rolled off of the bed and onto her feet. As she stood in the bed's alcove, she realized that she couldn't be truthful to her friends about why she'd come to Jakku. Rey hurriedly crafted together an explanation in her mind amid the increasing sounds of the ships. She had to make sure they believed her, or she'd be risking her and Ben's already precarious relationship.

Rey made her way out of the AT-AT as she heard the sounds of several crafts landing nearby outside. As she stepped out of the entrance, she saw two X-wings and a large silver shuttle settling down into the blowing sand.

As soon as one of the X-wings had landed, its cockpit popped open, revealing Poe Dameron. Poe's eyes grew wide as he saw Rey standing out front of the AT-AT, and he leapt down from his ship.

"Rey!" He called. He nearly tripped in the thick sand as he barreled towards her. Rey tried to maintain a straight face, to put on an air of sorrow. Poe ran up and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a hug. He released her and held her at arm's length, studying her face. "Rey, are you okay?"

Rey bit her lip, wanting to piece together her words carefully. "I'm fine," she said flatly, shifting her gaze.

"Did they hurt you? How did you get away? Did you run into...you know…" he trailed, raising an eyebrow. He dropped his hands from her arms.

Rey met Poe's questioning eyes, hesitant to answer. "They didn't hurt me…" She trailed. "Look, Poe...I'm sorry what I did, it was very wrong—"

"Rey, don't worry about it, it's not a big deal," Poe said, shaking her shoulder. "I'm just glad you're alright."

Rey saw Finn and Maz exiting the transport shuttle over Poe's shoulder and Jess Testor climbing down from the other X-wing. Poe turned around to follow her gaze.

"She's alright," Poe called to the others, and Finn nodded, smiling.

She watched as Finn ran up to Jess and asked her the same questions Poe had asked herself. Rey smiled as Finn pulled Jess into a relieved hug, rubbing her shoulder. Finn smiled brightly at Jess before jogging over to Poe's side.

Finn raised his eyebrows in concern as his eyes flitted over Rey's face nervously. He opened his mouth to speak, but he hesitated as his eyes rose, trailing the immense structure in front of him. He lowered his bright eyes back to hers. "You used to live here? _This_ is the AT-AT you told me about?" He asked, huffing. He was clearly taken aback by the large structure.

Rey nodded. "Yes...This is where I grew up," she said, gesturing towards the structure.

"Must have been lonely," Poe said, looking at Rey sympathetically.

"It was," Rey said quietly, her gaze shifting away.

"Rey, what happened?" Finn asked, refocusing his attention on her.

"Give her some room, would you two?" Maz insisted as she shoved between Finn and Poe, and the men each took a step back. Maz looked up at Rey and smiled. "How are you, my dear?" She asked, holding out her small hand.

Rey grasped her hand and smiled down at Maz. But her smile faded as Maz retracted her hand to zoom her glasses in on Rey's face. Rey's brows furrowed as Maz's eyes narrowed slightly. Rey flushed and looked back up at Finn and Poe, hoping that someone would make conversation, but she glanced back down at Maz as the small woman made her way around Rey and into the AT-AT.

Rey followed her inside, wondering what Maz was up to. Jess, Finn, and Poe followed them inside. She felt nervous having them inside her former home, where Ben had been less than an hour before.

"Wow, I've never been inside one of these before," Finn said excitedly. "I always used to sign up to work the AT-ATs with the First Order, but they never chose me."

"Probably because you're a better fighter on the ground," Poe said.

"Are you trying to say something about my piloting skills?" Finn asked, turning back towards Poe.

As the men bantered, Rey watched Maz move around the AT-AT, seeming to look in every corner. Maz then stopped before the tally-marked wall.

"Maz, what is it?" Rey asked innocently.

After a few moments, Maz turned around, rubbing her chin. "I thought I sensed…" she trailed, her voice quiet.

Rey's eyes widened, and she tried to keep her face straight as her heart pounded in her chest.

Maz glanced up at Rey again, but then her gaze shifted away. "Nevermind," she said, waving Rey off. She turned back around to face the tally-marked wall and sighed. "You were stuck here for a very long time," she remarked, looking back at Rey. "Why did you come back?"

Everyone turned to look at Rey expectantly. Letting out a breath, she took a few steps towards the wall, looking at it for a moment before speaking.

"I wanted to be alone," she said. "And I knew there was no better place to be alone than here."

"So, what happened back on the Empire base?" Poe asked.

Rey hesitated.

"You ran into Kylo Ren," Finn presumed.

Rey turned and nodded at Finn. "Yes," she said concisely. Everyone remained quiet, clearly waiting for her to elaborate. She looked at Poe. "You were right," she said. "He's a Sith. He's different now, purely evil. He can't be turned back to the Light."

"I knew it," Poe muttered, digging the toe of his boot into the dusty metal ground. "I knew Leia had too much faith in him."

"Are you sure he can't?" Jess asked abruptly, stepping forward.

Rey raised an eyebrow as she looked across at Jess.

"I mean, he helped me escape from the base...he isn't a very good Sith if he's releasing his own prisoners," she said with a small laugh.

Rey's breath quickened and her heart beat heavily in her chest as she stared at Jess. _You let Jess Testor escape?_ Rey questioned.

"You're sure it was _Kylo Ren_ that helped you?" Rey asked, hoping Jess was mistaken. "It wasn't just some general or stormtrooper?"

 _Yes, I helped her,_ Rey heard Ben respond. _You're with her now?_

"I'm sure," Jess said, nodding. "I recognized his mother in him. He has his mom's dark hair and eyes. Actually, his eyes changed from yellow to brown...That was really weird."

 _Had I caused that change?_ Rey wondered.

"Yellow?" Maz repeated. She sounded surprised. "The Dark side of the Force _is_ strong with him, then…" she trailed.

"Ren interrogated me on his ship before we got to the base, but apparently I didn't have any useful information for him...well, _actually,_ he pulled memories of Leia from my head. And memories of _you,"_ Jess said, raising her eyebrows at Rey.

"Did he?" Maz asked, looking between Jess and Rey.

Rey swallowed and felt her throat tighten as she worried her story would be unravelled in front of her. "That's not the Kylo Ren I met," she said, trying to sound confident. "He tried to fight me, he threatened to kill me." She was growing desperate. "He just wanted to bring me to the Dark side, all along."

Poe's face contorted. "If that kriffing piece of waste ever comes for you again, Rey, I'll blast him to pieces," he said, his nostrils flaring.

"Doesn't sound like he's changed much from when we fought him in the woods on Starkiller, Rey," Finn said, lowering his brows. He looked at Rey sympathetically.

Rey was glad the two men believed her. "I never want to see him again," she said, lowering her voice." But when she looked at Jess and down at Maz, she thought she read skepticism on their faces.

"I'm sorry he tried to seduce you to the Dark side, Rey," Finn said softly, stepping towards her.

Rey nodded, trying to look somber. "Yes. But now it's all behind me. Now I know it was all a trick."

Poe looked angry as Finn nodded, lowering his gaze to the ground. He then raised his eyes back up to hers and moved towards her, pulling her into a hug. Rey let out a sigh as she rested her head atop his shoulder, relieved. He patted her back, and Rey was comforted by his sincere concern.

Finn was the only one to whom Rey had admitted her love for Ben, and she was upset that she had to lie to him now in order to protect her love. She knew he actually believed that she'd been let down, that Ben had only been trying to bring her to the Dark side. But she also knew that he would probably understand if she ever told him the truth.

As Finn stepped back from her, Maz gestured her hand towards the structure's entrance. "Let us go now, I need to get back to running my bar. It's all finished, you know," she said.

The group followed Maz back out into the sand, and Rey hesitated inside the entrance of the AT-AT, giving the place a nostalgic once-over before following them outside.

"Where's the rest of the squadrons?" Rey asked.

"We sent them on ahead to the Organa base. I didn't want to overwhelm you, sending a giant group of X-wings out here to get you," Poe chuckled. As his laugh faded, he bit his lip as he looked at her, and he stepped towards her. "I'm sorry what happened, Rey," he said. "I really am. But I'm also glad you can see that Ren is our enemy."

Rey swallowed and forced a small smile. "Yeah," she said, unsure of what else to say.

Poe stared at her a moment longer before turning and heading to his X-wing. "See you back on Trora, Flygirl," he said over his shoulder, winking at her.

Rey smiled as she made her way over to the shuttle, glad that Ben wasn't here to hear Poe's nickname for her. She walked delicately as she made her way through the sand, afraid to strain herself. She approached Maz, Jess, and Finn, who were standing at the base of loading ramp talking.

"Well, I'm not talking to him. I'll drop you three off on Trora, say hello to Chewie, and then I'm going home," Maz was saying.

"Talk to who?" Rey asked, and Maz sighed.

"Luke," she said, glancing up at Rey.

"Listen, Maz, if you just give him a chance to explain—"

"No, you listen to me, Stormtrooper," Maz interjected, waggling her finger up at Finn. "I've had enough of this Skywalker drama. I've been alive for over a thousand years and I've never seen such an overdramatic family," she huffed. She looked between Finn and Jess expectantly, who remained quiet. "Alright, let's get going," she said, stepping over to Rey's side.

"See you soon, Jess," Finn said, smiling. He stepped up onto the ramp, but Jess grabbed his jacket and force him down to her, pressing a kiss to his lips.

As she broke from the kiss, Finn looked dazed. "Thank you for coming to rescue me. Even though I got out myself," she giggled, and she made her way over to her X-wing.

Rey pressed her hands to her mouth, smiling excitedly as she saw Finn frozen in place, his eyes glued on Jess as she climbed up into her ship.

"Well? Are you going to get on board, or are you just going to stand there, Stormtrooper?" Maz asked, raising an eyebrow.

Finn shook his head. "Yes, ma'am," he said, and he jogged up the ramp into the ship obediently.

Rey stepped onto the bottom of the ramp, but Maz took Rey's hand, stopping her. Rey turned and looked down at Maz, who beckoned her lower. Rey bent her knees, bringing herself to Maz's eye level.

"Rey, dear child, you may be able to fool your inexperienced friends, but you cannot fool me," she said, a knowing look in her eyes.

"What are you talking about?" Rey asked, her face flushing.

Maz ignored her question. "You'd better keep it secret. If you're found out, you may lose the respect of the Organa council," she said. She raised an eyebrow. "You're playing a very dangerous game."

Rey furrowed her brows, opening her mouth to protest, but she knew that Maz hadn't believed her lies for a second. She gathered her thoughts. "How did you know?" She finally asked.

"My dear, you're glowing."

….

Ben hadn't travelled far from Jakku after he'd gotten into the small grey Empire shuttle. There was something he'd been itching to do after he'd left Rey, something that was digging under his skin. But he knew he had to stay off of Jakku while Maz was there, or she'd sense him. He couldn't risk letting Maz know that he had been there; she had countless connections around the galaxy, and if she'd wanted to spread word of him and Rey, she could do it easily and on a large scale.

Now, as Ben slumped lazily in a chair before the ship's controls, he felt thoroughly lonely. He already missed Rey sorely.

 _Rey…_

Ben closed his eyes for a moment and took in a deep breath as he thought of her. He recounted the crimson flush of her cheeks as he'd felt her between her legs, as he'd thrusted himself inside of her. He reflected on his intrigue as he'd slid Rey's panties from her legs, seeing the slit between her legs for the first time. To him, it had looked like a flower.

He'd of course seen naked women before, the whores that were found in many cities and centers of debauchery, the women who offered him sex for money. Oftentimes generals had eagerly accepted these offers, and sometimes they even raped lone women when they were invading smaller towns. Ben had been disgusted by this behavior, never feeling the drive to rape a woman or to pay one for sex.

While he admired the female form, he'd never felt much compelled to give in such primal desires. That is, until he'd met Rey on Takodana.

Last night, Ben had wanted to explore more between her legs, to kiss her sex, but he hadn't been sure how she would have reacted. _Maybe next time,_ he mused. _If there is a next time._

Rising from the pilot's chair, Ben stood and leaned over the control board, setting in the logging controls to head back to Jakku. He figured Rey and the others would have left the planet by now. He was hankering to return to Jakku, to administer justice and avenge Rey.

….

By the time Ben got to landing his shuttle down on Jakku, the sun had almost fully set, a mere yellow line on the horizon. He hastily grabbed his helmet and pulled on his gloves as he moved towards the small loading door, dropping it quickly with the Force.

Ben already felt the Dark side rising within him as he stomped through the shifting sand in the dim light. He yanked on his hood after pulling on his helmet and clicking it into place.

As he stalked through the virtually empty Niima Outpost, Ben kept his eyes trained dead ahead on his destination. His fists curled and his arms raised at his sides. Enmity and disgust boiled in his veins as he was filled with voracious bloodlust.

Seeing that the front of the trading shack was closed with a metal panel, Ben moved around to a door on the side of the stand. He aggressively pushed through the thick door with the Force, easily knocking it off of its hinges. As it fell flat onto the dusty floor of the shack, Ben saw the round blobbish figure he had so eagerly anticipated seeing in the flesh. The creature was even more repulsive than how he'd appeared in Rey's mind.

Unkar Plutt staggered backwards, but his face was stern. "What—what do you want? I'm closed!" He grumbled.

Ben shook his head once. "I'm not here to trade," he said flatly, remaining in the doorway.

Plutt's hands slowly rose before his face as he looked Ben's stature up and down. Ben sneered behind his mask, the man's fear palpable. Plutt hesitated to speak again. "Who are you?"

With a swift movement, Ben pulled his lightsaber from his belt, flicking his wrist as he ignited it at his side. He didn't bother to suppress his chuckle as Plutt shriveled back from his crackling red weapon.

"I'm Death."


	10. Chapter 9: Apart

_So this chapter is short, but there will definitely be some exciting bits and twists coming soon...oh, the things I have planned for this story...*rubs hands together evilly.* Thank you for reading and commenting!_

* * *

 _Ben,_ Rey pressed, her eyes flickering around the stars outside the shuttle's back window. _Ben Solo, answer me._

But ever since Rey had felt his Dark powers surging through his end of the bond, Ben hadn't responded to her, and she had begun to worry. _Ben, what's wrong? Why aren't you answering me?_

Rey pressed her hands to the window, fiercely wishing she knew where he was and what he was doing right now. Her fingers slid down the glass. _Ben, if you don't answer, I'm coming to find you_ —

 _No, Rey, I'm fine,_ Ben finally responded.

Rey sucked in a surprised breath. _Ben! Why—what's going on with you?_

There was a long pause before he answered. _I just had to take care of something._

 _Something?_ She repeated. _Or someone?_

 _Don't worry about it, Rey, everything's alright._

Rey let out a flustered breath as she stared out at the passing stars. She shook her head slowly. _Ben, I don't know what you've been doing, but you can't just decide to ignore me, okay? That's not fair._

 _I_ wasn't _ignoring you—I heard you the entire time. I just—I needed to center myself._

 _I felt the Dark side emanating strongly from you…_ she thought, pausing. _You killed someone, didn't you?_

Rey waited, but Ben didn't answer.

 _Who was it?_ She pressed.

 _It was necessary, Rey. He—it was a deplorable being. Unworthy of its existence._

 _Ben._ Who _was it?_ She repeated.

 _Unkar Plutt,_ Ben said. _I saw him in your mind, the way he's treated you, the wretched things he's said to you._

Rey's eyes widened. _Ben!...He raised me...he taught me to survive, and...you've killed him?_

 _That doesn't excuse his vulgar threats,_ Ben returned. _He deserved death. I know you've had nightmares about him. Now he can never bother you again._

Rey took in a breath as she rubbed the side of her head. She didn't know what to think, but she felt upset that Ben hadn't discussed Plutt with her before deciding to kill him. _Ben,_ _that was rash of you. No one deserves death,_ she thought wearily. _You have to stop killing._

 _Rey, that's not possible,_ Ben returned. _We're in a war, after all._

Rey sighed as she pushed away from the wall of the shuttle. She paced back and forth in the small loading chamber. _Then find some empathy,_ she said back. _Surely you're capable of feeling compassion towards people other than me._

"Rey?"

Rey jolted as she froze in her tracks, looking up to see Finn. She quickly smiled, brushing her loose hair from her face. "Yes?"

"You _are_ okay, aren't you?" he asked, concern in his eyes.

Rey tried to give him a more convincing smile. "Yes," she said. "I'm fine, Finn."

Finn gave her a cheeky half-smile, flashing his teeth. "How do you think Luke's going to react once we get back?" He asked.

"Oh," Rey said, tugging at the ends of her hair. "I forgot."

Finn chuckled. "Well, Maz just contacted him. She told him what was going on, so at least he won't be completely surprised about what happened."

"I can't imagine he'll be too happy with us," Rey muttered. She felt anxiety beginning to twist in her chest.

Finn shrugged. "I don't know, I mean, I wouldn't worry too much. He's a pretty compassionate guy. Maybe he doesn't show it on the outside, but I think inside he's just a big softie."

"You think so?" Rey laughed, squinting her eyes. "I think you're probably right."

….

Ben ground his teeth together as he sped his shuttle back to the Empire base on Quarus. He sorely hoped that General Thrawn hadn't beaten him back to the planet, lest he could pay brutal punishment for his own sudden and unauthorized leave.

As Ben approached the planet, he turned on his transmission and requested clearance through the atmosphere. The trooper on the other end sounded surprised to hear that he was coming back through to the planet.

After he landed the ship onto the tarmac, Ben gathered his mask under his arm and leapt down onto the frozen concrete. He stalked in through the base's hangar where various stormtroopers were milling about. They all turned their heads to stare at him as he passed by.

" _What?"_ Ben snapped, and they swivelled their helmeted heads the other way. He read in their minds that word had spread around the base of his former departure, and that no one had expected him to return.

Ben made his way into the busy central command room and hastily read the officers' minds as they watched him enter. He was relieved to find that General Thrawn had not yet made it to the base.

Ben set his helmet onto a table and sat down at a computer desk. Ignoring the stares of the older officers around him, he logged into the base's planned military operations as if nothing was wrong. As he began flipping through the digital pages, he felt someone approach him at his side, and he turned to see a familiar and perplexed young Lieutenant staring at him.

"Are you going to speak, or should I pull your thoughts from your head?" Ben asked sharply.

Lieutenant Mitaka jolted, straightening himself. "Commander, Sir, we just...you left the base yesterday, there were some concerns that you would not be returning to us," he said.

Ben glared at the man, reading the fear in his eyes. "Are you questioning my service, Lieutenant?" Ben asked, raising an eyebrow. He glanced around at the officers in his vicinity. "Surely it was clear to you all that I left the base to go after the escaped prisoner."

Mitaka nodded hastily. "Of course, Sir, yes, that's—we, uh, put that down in our files, we just—we needed confirmation," he stammered.

Ben held back his sneer as he saw the bead of sweat trickling down the Lieutenant's forehead. "Of course," he returned flatly, deciding to go easy on the young Lieutenant. Rey's words about compassion were turning over in his head.

Ben turned and faced the computer before him and continued to flip through files for a few moments, but he grew impatient as Mitaka remained in his peripheral vision. Ben flipped his head back to the Lieutenant, who was at this point visibly trembling.

"Sir, _sorry,_ Sir, but—did you...recapture the prisoner?" He asked, his voice feeble.

Ben shook his head once. "No—an Organa fleet got to her before I did. Perhaps if _our_ base's fleet had been more _prompt,_ we could have responded sooner and reclaimed the prisoner," he said, his voice rising so those around him would hear.

Mitaka's mouth quivered. "Y— _yes,_ Commander, I'll look into it right away—" he stuttered, and he swiftly left the command center.

Ben huffed out a sigh as he turned back to his computer, resting his head in his hands as he stared at the list of Organa bases that the Empire planned to attack.

….

As the shuttle's loading ramp settled down onto the tarmac at the Organa base, Rey swallowed. She saw Luke, Leia, Chewie, and the two other pilot squadrons standing in the opening of the hangar ahead. She lowered her head as she followed Finn down the ramp, Maz keeping up behind her. Poe and Jess were climbing down from their X-wings to the side of the shuttle.

Luke stepped forward from the group of pilots to meet them halfway. "Maz," he said, nodding in greeting to the small orangish woman.

"Luke," Maz acknowledged back.

Luke's gaze rose from Maz to survey Rey and Finn. "You could have been killed," he said, but his gaze was focused on Rey.

"Listen, Luke, we're sorry we didn't listen to you," Finn said, biting the inside of his cheek. "But we had to save our friend," he said, motioning to Jess as she and Poe joined them.

Luke gave Jess a small smile before looking between Poe and Rey. "I'm disappointed in you all, for duping me," he said, and Rey and the others shifted their gazes to the ground. Luke sighed heavily. "But I'm also very proud that you brought Jess back to us."

Poe raised his head and smiled at Luke. "Thank you, Sir," he said.

Luke smiled at Rey, but there was a perceptible sadness in his expression. "And I'm proud of you for facing Kylo Ren."

Rey flushed at Ben's mention, and for a moment she thought her swelling emotions would break through her serious exterior. Her brows pinched together as she realized that Luke had not called his nephew by his real name, as he usually did. She gave Luke a curt nod.

"You've proven yourself a worthy Jedi, facing a Sith on your own," Luke continued. "I'm impressed."

Rey realized that Maz must have told Luke the lie that Rey had told the others, that Ben had transformed into a Sith.

"She's certainly brave," Poe said, smiling brightly down at Rey.

Rey dipped her head as she felt her heart sink in her chest, realizing that Ben was being painted in a progressively darker light for all of them. _Will Luke ever come to realize that Ben_ _has not been lost to the Dark side_ _?_ She wondered to herself. _Will he die thinking his only nephew is a monster?_

Luke stepped forward, placing a hand on Rey's shoulder, and she blinked up at him. "Rise, young Jedi," he said, and Rey straightened herself. Luke looked at her with earnest, paternal fondness. "You should feel proud of yourself."

Rey gave him a feeble smile, but all she could feel was shame. Shame that she had lied to everyone, shame that she had broken her adherence to the Jedi Code.

….

As Rey lay in her bed that night, she couldn't fall asleep. Staring up at the dark ceiling, her stomach ached with guilty about everything.

She rolled onto her side, outstretching her arm onto the other side of the bed. The bed felt so empty to her, so lonely.

As if on cue, she heard the essence of Ben's voice in her mind. _Rey, I miss you,_ he said. _I can't sleep._

 _I can't, either,_ Rey answered. _I wish you were here with me._

 _I do too,_ he returned. _I would give anything to be with you right now, Rey._

 _When will we see each other again?_ She wondered.

 _I'll get back to you on that,_ Ben said, _but hopefully very soon._

Rey let out a long breath as she hugged a pillow to her chest. _B_ en, _I feel like a horrible person,_ she lamented.

 _Why would you ever think that?_ He asked.

 _I've had to lie to everyone about you...I've lied to Luke, your mother,_ she said. _They think you're a true Sith, that you've been lost entirely to the Dark side._ She decided not to mention Maz to him.

There was a pause. _I figured you would have had to tell them something like that,_ Ben responded. _But that's just the way it has to be._

Rey sighed. _And Luke thinks I'm a virtuous Jedi. Ben...I can't stand lying to everyone._

 _Rey, there are costs you will have to pay, if you want this...us. I'm not exactly having an easy time over here, either,_ he reminded her. _But if you can't stand lying to everyone, if it's not worth it, I understand. If it's too much_ —

 _No, Ben, it_ is _worth it...I love you. I hate the lying, but what I definitely cannot stand is to lose you,_ she urged.

 _It's only been just over a day, yet I feel as if I've been away from you for far longer,_ Ben said. _I want to kiss you, to make love to you again._

Rey felt a hot flush move through her body at his thoughts, and she shifted in her bed. _Ah, Ben,_ she mused. She lay silently for a while, reminiscing on the night before. As her heartbeat gradually slowed, her lids began to droop over her eyes in the darkness.

 _Rey, I want to hear you,_ Ben said.

Rey smiled to herself. _Hey, Kylo Ren, I'm trying to sleep now,_ she teased.

 _That would be Darth Ren to you, Jedi,_ Ben responded, and Rey laughed softly against her pillow. _Tell me something._

 _Like what?_ She asked.

 _I don't know, a memory, a story..._ he answered. _I just want to hear you for a while longer._

 _A bedtime story?_ She teased.

 _Yes, a bedtime story._

Rey smiled sleepily to herself. _Hmm, okay. I'll tell you a fairy tale, one of my favorites when I was younger. It's about a princess named Sarana, and how she falls in love with a boy who rescues her from a wampa._

 _Sounds perfect,_ Ben answered.

 _Alright._ Rey paused, running through the storyline in her head. _A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away..._


	11. Chapter 10: Anonymous

"Two letters have come in for you today, Chancellor," Poe said as he entered the panel room. He stopped before Leia and held out two enveloped letters. "One is from the republic of New Alderaan, the other seems to be anonymous. But it feels like there's...there's something in it."

Leia nodded and smiled at the pilot as she took the two letters. "Thank you, Poe," she said, and he nodded before leaving her in the otherwise empty room.

Leia slowly moved to the large table at the center of the room as she examined the envelopes. She stared at the smaller one for a moment, wondering, before setting it down and opening the other.

The larger letter from New Alderaan was printed on crisp, expensive paper. Leia flattened the letter onto the tabletop and admired the brilliant gold gilding around the edges of the page before she began reading.

 _Chancellor Leia Solo-Organa-Skywalker,_

 _We hope that this document finds you well and in good health. We wanted to send our continued gratitude for your gracious help in the establishment of our colony of the remaining Alderaanians on our aptly-named New Alderaan. The environment of our planet is resourceful as it is beautiful, and there is not a day that passes that we take for granted or forget your role in our establishment here._

 _Now that our colony has fully settled and our capital city structured, our society is flourishing and expanding. Our educational system is quickly becoming one of the best in the galaxy, as it once was, and we have returned to our focus on the arts, philosophy, other endeavors so cherished by our ancient culture._

 _This being said, in alignment with our refocus on our cultural values, we have felt the need to return to a more structured and traditional form of government. We highly value your commitment to the Order, but we of the Board of Alderaanian Governmental Affairs humbly extend to you the offer to return to New Alderaan to rule. Should you ever choose to retire from your current lofty political and military endeavors, you will have a place here with us._

 _The Organa family was the greatest leading family of the original Alderaan. You are the rightful heir to the throne, and the sole leader anyone on our planet is willing to accept at this point in time. Your family was widely respected and loved by everyone, and we as a society have voted to extend to you to the potential to continue the Organa legacy as the overseer of the Alderaanian culture and people._

 _Take as much time as you need in considering this decision. Should you choose to remain as the Chancellor of your larger Order, we look to you to guide us in procuring a new and rightful leader. We wait with open and hopeful hearts for your response._

 _Sincerely Yours,_

 _Tarro Briosnell_

 _Head of Governmental Affairs_

Leia sighed deeply as she stared down at the intricate calligraphy of the letter, rubbing her temples as she mulled over the weighty offer she had just been given. _To return to my people would be one of my greatest wishes,_ she admitted to herself, _but for now my place is here, to lead the war against the Empire. The galactic front has always been my true place._

Leia carefully folded the letter up and set it aside on the desk below her. She began to open the smaller envelope, feeling a bulge within it. There was no name from the sender on the envelope, only her own scrawled across the envelope's front: _To Chancellor Leia Solo-Organa-Skywalker Exclusively._

She pulled out the letter, followed by a small pouch. Leia frowned, wondering what the pouch could be. Her heart quickening in her chest, Leia unfolded the short letter and smoothed it onto the table. It wasn't the first time she'd gotten an anonymous letter like this, and sure enough she immediately recognized the looping, condensed handwriting on the paper before her. The handwriting appeared as though the writer had been in a hurry.

 _Attack planned on Storia base in three weeks. Be prepared & stay away from Storia base for time being. _

_Really hope you are doing well_ — _I_ _miss you._

 _Please give attached to Rey._

Leia picked up the small pouch and loosened its drawstrings. Squinting, she saw a handful of small bead-like objects inside. _Seeds?_ She wondered, tilting her head.

"Leia?" She heard Luke's voice behind her.

Leia set the pouch back onto the table and turned towards her brother. She picked up the shorter letter and held it out before her, looking across at Luke with glinting eyes. "He's sent another warning to us," she said, extending to him the letter.

Luke raised his brows as he read through the short note. He scratched his chin, now shaved short of its former beard. "This is him?" He asked, raising his eyes to hers. "You're sure this is him again?"

Leia nodded. "Of course it is," she said. "Same handwriting as the other notes we've gotten before." She was sure that even the telegram that had been sent to her years ago warning of the destruction of the Hosnian System by Starkiller Base had been sent by her son. "Besides, the only spies we have in the Empire right now are droids-and they weren't programmed to send us handwritten letters."

Luke nodded and sighed. "An attack three weeks from now? The Empire sure plans ahead," he remarked." After a pause, he gaze knowingly across at his sister. "You were right, about Ben."

"We were _both_ right, Luke. We both admitted we knew Rey was lying about Ben. She was just telling everyone what they wanted to hear."

Luke smiled, but it quickly faded. "I admire her stubbornness. I really do. But I still don't want her to rejoin him, Leia, to be influenced by his darkness," he said, turning his face away.

Leia moved towards her brother. "Luke," she said gently, "I know you feel like Rey's adoptive father. I _get_ it. Everyone loves her. I even feel like a mother to her. But you have to realize that—while you have every right to give her guidance, especially with the Force, you need to let her make her own decisions, to be independent...I know you want to protect her from the Dark side, from her lineage...but I just don't see how she's going to be happy in the long-term if you continue to control her like a child."

Luke sighed heavily as he gazed down at his sister. "I know. I know. I just—of _course_ I feel bad about not telling her everything about her mother, but…"

"Luke, you were so close with Rey's father," Leia said. "You and I know full well he wouldn't have married her mother if there hadn't been light in her." She studied Luke as he tensed and looked away from her. Leia placed her hand on his arm, hesitating to continue. "But I know you loved him. I've always known. I know it hurt you to watch him fall for someone on the side of the Dark, and his death alongside Ben's turn to the Dark drove you to depression, isolation. And I know that his attachment to Rey's mother is why you're so resistant to Rey falling for Ben."

Luke met Leia's gaze, and his posture began to relax. "I know you knew," he said. "And you're right, Leia, but it's more than that, about Rey and Ben. I want Rey to be happy, I don't want to keep her from being happy. But I worry that if she continues to strengthen her connection to Ben...I don't want her to fall to the Dark side, to attract Snoke. I don't want what happened to Ben to happen to her...After all, Ben turned once he learned the truth about his grandfather."

"That's when we lost him to Snoke," Leia agreed nodding. She gave him a knowing look. "But Rey doesn't have Snoke poisoning her mind."

Luke's mouth tightened into a straight line. "At least, not yet."

….

On the way back to her house from the morning's training with Luke, Rey spotted Finn, Poe, and Jess ahead.

"Rey!" Poe exclaimed, smiling. "What are you up to, Desert Flower?"

"I was just heading home," she said as Poe stopped before her. "I'm awfully tired from this morning. Lots of combat training."

"Luke's keeping you in top shape, huh?" He asked, his eyes tracing over her. "Strong," he commented, poking her arm.

Rey laughed as Finn and Jess approached. "Hey, Finn. Hello, Jess," she greeted, shading her eyes against the sunlight.

"Rey," Finn said, "Are you going to take care of your flower friends?"

Rey spoke with Finn, Jess, and Poe for awhile. She listened to the training the pilots were undergoing, the upcoming missions they had planned to patrol the planets under the jurisdiction of the Order. She in turn told them about her training that morning with Luke, how she was progressing in her lightsaber combat training.

As they spoke, Rey noticed Jess kept interlacing her fingers between Finn's, and she saw the grin Finn was trying but failing to hide. While they spoke, Poe exchanged knowing looks with Rey, subtly acknowledging the other two's inability to keep their hands off one another.

From an outsider's perspective, Rey though that their group probably looked like two couples catching up with each other. Rey knew that was what Poe wanted, what he'd always wanted: for Rey to return his feelings, for them them be a couple like Jess and Finn. _Loving Poe would have been easy,_ Rey thought. _So much easier._

But Rey's life had never been easy, and she figured this was partly why she had fallen in love with Ben in the first place: his life had been just as difficult as hers, if not more so, and because of this, he _understood_ her, the things she went through, her loneliness, her craving for belonging. Even though Ben responded to the trauma in his life in a different way, by falling towards the Dark, Rey knew he could empathize with her, connect with her in a way that no one else ever could, not even Poe, as good as he was.

After the group parted and said their goodbyes for the day, Rey continued on to her home, making a beeline for her garden. As she passed carefully through her patches of ferns and flowers, she began to reach out through the path of the Force.

….

 _Ben, what are you up to?_

 _I'm sorry Rey, I can't talk right now, I'm_ —

 _Training. I know,_ Rey responded. _Come back to me when you're done._

 _I will._

Ben rolled his shoulders and adjusted his grip on his heavy training baton as he stood across from the five stormtroopers. He usually didn't train with his actual lightsaber; if he did, unless his opponent was using a Z6 baton, his opponent's weapon would be destroyed as soon as it made contact with his.

But even with just this blunt baton, taking down his training opponents was always quite easy for Ben. As he was forced to adhere to a strict and rigorous workout regimen, he was always kept in top physical condition, and he was already tall, giving him a natural advantage.

In addition to his personal workout sessions, Admiral Thrawn and Snoke now had Ben practicing his combat skills more regularly to stay sharp as the war progressed further. During his combat training, Ben always tapped into the Dark side of the Force. It was easier for him to tap into his emotional pain and passions than it was for him to use the more impersonal side of the Light while fighting. He'd become accustomed to using the Dark side while fighting, and talking to Rey while doing so made it too difficult for him to stay closer to the Dark.

He and Rey had fallen into a routine as they communicated with each other each day. Rey knew not to speak to him while he was training, to keep away the influence of the Light side. If Ben began using Light force powers while Snoke was around, Snoke would know.

But Snoke rarely crossed paths with Ben anymore in person, choosing to remain on his own base on Mustafar. Ben suspected that Snoke stayed there to harness his powers, as they seemed to wax and wane over time. The longer Snoke spent on Mustafar, the more powerful he seemed each time he left the planet. Snoke didn't seem able to use a lot of Force energy unless he'd been at Mustafar for an extended amount of time, and Ben was astute with keeping track of the time Snoke spent on Mustafar during each of his vists, to predict the threat he posed to himself each time he came to oversee him. Ben suspected that Snoke had to have some sort of power source on his personal base; that would explain his fluctuations in his powers with the Dark side.

Today, it was just Thrawn and Phasma who were overseeing Ben's training. Ben was to fight against a small squadron of troopers, one of whom was one of the base's top combat stormtroopers, AN-838. But Ben wasn't very worked up as he stood across from the lined troopers; he knew that even a superiorly trained trooper was no match for a trained Force user like himself.

Ben shifted on his feet as he stared across at the masked troopers in the dark box of the combat training room. The only light source filtered down from a long window where Thrawn and Phasma stood watching from above.

Ben waited for the troopers to make the first move. He was about to read the men's minds to figure out their methods of attack, but he chose not to, deciding to make the fight more fair. Ben was well aware how strong of an influence Rey had on him, her morality and mercy, even when he wasn't with her. Ben recognized that Rey's moral code was not at all unlike his own, before he joined Snoke and the First Order. His deep reverence for Rey was breaking through to his core, even now when he was accessing the Dark.

Ben gripped his baton tightly as he focused ahead, hoping to clear his mind of the Light. But realizing this was impossible, torn between the Light and Dark with the bond as he was, he decided to allow the Light in, to find the balance between the two sides. After all, Snoke wasn't there to sense it.

….

Ben made quick work of the stormtroopers during the training, and he felt that his attunement with the Dark and the Light had made this combat session made it one of his easiest sessions yet.

As he made his way through the base and to his room, he reflected on one of the stormtroopers who had put up a surprisingly good fight. Curious, Ben had broken his initial decision and read the stormtrooper's thoughts. He'd been surprised by what he'd seen in the man's head.

After he'd finished showering in his private quarters, Ben paced in his bedroom, still feeling a leftover adrenaline rush even though his fight had been short-lived. He sorely missed Rey. He _needed_ her.

Ben's hands clenched at his sides as he paced, his chest twisting and his palms balmy as he thought of her. He stopped in his tracks and looked towards his bed, wishing Rey was sprawled out upon it, waiting for him.

Following this fantasy, Ben got onto the bed as he pictured her: her bright laugh, brilliant smile, her soft skin, the freckles that dotted her nose. His forehead broke out in a sweat as he closed his eyes, imagining her with him again. He needed to find some release.

He resorted to pleasuring himself as he thought of her, as he often did over the years since he'd first met her. He couldn't help but roll her name over and over in his mind as he pictured her. _Rey…Rey..._

 _Ben? You're there?_

Ben's eyes shot open and he froze, his breath catching in his throat as he heard her in his mind. Moving his hands up to either side of him, he hesitated to answer Rey, fearing that she somehow knew what he was up to.

 _Ben, have you finished your training?_ She probed.

 _Rey,_ he began. A shaking breath escaped through his teeth. _Yes, I'm done._

 _How was it?_

Ben wiped his forearm across his forehead as he sat up in his bed. Feeling shameful and guilty, he slid his pants up and fastened them. _It was alright,_ he finally answered. As he forced himself to relax, he recalled reading the stormtrooper's mind. _One of the stormtroopers I fought—he knew you. You named him when you were held prisoner on the Finalizer._

 _You fought Allan?_ She asked. _I hope you didn't hurt him, Ben!_

Ben shook his head instinctively, though he realized Rey couldn't see him do so. _No, he's fine. I mean, I went easy on him._

 _What do you consider going easy on someone? She asked._

 _He'll be okay, Rey,_ he assured, wanting to change the subject. _What are you doing right now?_

 _I'm gardening,_ she said. _I'm planting bright blue flowers, they're really pretty. I wish you could see them._

Ben let out a breathy laugh in his silent room. _Of course you're gardening. You do love your plants, Scavenger._

 _But I love you more, you scoundrel._

Ben smiled again, rolling onto his side on the bed. _I love you most._ He stared at the empty other half of the bed, stretching his hand over the sheets. _I wish you were with me. I think I'm losing my sanity._

 _When are we going to see each other? It's been three and a half weeks, I've been counting the days,_ she responded. _I'll come raid your base if I have to._

 _I wouldn't advise doing that again, Jedi,_ he teased.

There was a few moments' pause before Rey answered again. _How is the war, from your side?_

Ben sighed as he shut his eyes. _Busy. I'm expected to be in combat a lot in the upcoming months, I think._

 _Months?_ Rey repeated. _Does that mean I won't get to see you again for that long?_

 _No. I mean—I don't know, Rey. I really don't know._

 _Well, when's the next time you're leaving your base?_ She continued.

 _In two days. I'm going to meet my Knights. Wait, I don't think I've told you about them, have I?_ He realized.

 _I've heard about them from Luke, but you'll have to tell me more,_ she said. _Where are you meeting them?_

 _Coruscant._

 _Coruscant?_ She repeated. _I've never been there. I'll meet you there, then._

 _What? No, Rey—that's way too dangerous. One of the knights is force-sensitive. He'd sense you if you were on-planet._

 _Not with a Force field, remember?_

 _No, Rey, no...Coruscant is a big, big planet, very busy, very dangerous for someone like you. You're used to...smaller places._

 _Are you trying to say that I'm not worldly?_

 _No. Well...you know what I mean._

 _I think I can look after myself just fine,_ she answered haughtily.

Ben opened his eyes and sighed. _I know you can,_ he answered, _but still, it's not safe._

 _You yourself said we'll have to make sacrifices for this to work. I'm willing to face any and all risks, Solo,_ she returned.

Ben shook his head against his pillow. _Rey, no—Luke would never let you leave your planet, anyways. What's your excuse to go?_

 _I'm a_ Jedi— _and an adult. I have the power to make my own decisions. I'm not a prisoner here._

 _Lucky you,_ Ben returned dryly. _And you're a_ grey _Jedi, lest you forget._

 _So are you, lest you forget,_ she said.

Ben smiled to himself at her remark, reflecting on his training earlier. _You're absolutely right._

 _Want to hear more about the flowers I'm planting? I know you do,_ she teased.

 _Rey, wait, listen to me. You aren't coming to Coruscant. Don't even try._

 _These flowers are called Blueblossoms. Your mother brought me the seeds, apparently they're rather expensive._

 _Rey, don't change the—_

 _They're pretty delicate, too, so I have to be careful not to plant them too close to the other flowers,_ she interrupted. _They don't really fare well with others...kind of like you._

 _Rey..._ Ben sat up, propping himself up against his pillows. He sighed and closed his eyes, deciding to give in. _Blueblossoms, you said?_

Rey was quick to answer, and she went into depth about the flowers and the other kinds she was growing. The way she described the plants made it rather easy for Ben to picture their shapes and colors in his mind, and for a while he was lost in a daydream of sitting in Rey's garden at her side, helping her to plant seeds and water the plants.

Though he was fearful of her coming to Coruscant, Be didn't want to argue with her or upset her. He just wanted to continue talking with her, even if it was about trivial things like flowers. Though hearing her in his head wasn't the same as hearing her voice in person, he wished he could hear her in his head always.

….

It was evening when Leia knocked on Rey's door, the pouch from Ben stuffed inside her coat pocket. Leia waited several minutes, and when there was no answer she made her way around the side of the small home, figuring that Rey was in her garden.

As she moved through the bunches of flowers and plants, Leia smiled as she saw Rey crouched in the dirt ahead, preoccupied with a patch of blue flowers. As Leia approached, Rey flipped around and looked up at her with wide eyes, as if she'd been torn out of a deep daydream. Leia wondered if she'd been speaking with her son through their bond in the Force.

"Leia," Rey said, seemingly taken aback. She rose from the ground and hurriedly dusted off her pants. "What are you doing out here?"

"I have something for you," Leia said, pulling the tiny pouch out of her pocket and handing it to Rey. "It's a gift." She watched intently as Rey peered inside the pouch. Rey smiled and shook some of the seeds into her palm.

"New seeds," she observed. "Thank you!"

"They're not from me," Leia stated.

The smile slightly faded from Rey's face as she met Leia's eyes. "What do you mean?" She asked. "Who else would they be from?"

Leia pursed her lips and looked away, pretending to think deeply. "Well, they came to me in an unmarked envelope. But I have an idea who sent them. The letter that came with them instructed me to give them to you, _specifically,"_ she said, meeting Rey's widening eyes.

Rey stared unblinkingly at Leia a few moments, hesitating to speak. "You mean...you think _Ben_ sent them?" She asked tentatively.

Leia smiled knowingly at Rey. "You didn't think I'd believe Ben would fall completely into the Dark side, did you? Even Luke knows the truth," she said.

Rey grew tense. She tucked her hair behind her ear. "Leia, I'm...I'm so, _so_ sorry...I lied, and I'm sorry, I feel horrible—"

"It's okay, Rey," Leia said gently, stepping forward and patting the girl's arm. "You don't need to apologize. I know you wouldn't lie unless it was for good reason." She watched Rey expectantly.

Rey looked back down at the seed pouch in her hand, inspecting it closely as she thought. "Well, Ben didn't want to risk anyone knowing,...and I...we were afraid that if the members of the Order thought that I was siding with Ben, that...well, that they would turn against me," she said, raising her eyes back to Leia's.

"Rey, we'll _always_ stand by you," Leia scoffed. "Why would you ever think we'd turn against you?"

"Ben and I...we've both had a vision," Rey said, biting her lip.

Leia's face tightened. "A vision?" She asked, remembering the many visions Ben had had and shared with her as he'd grown up. "What was in this vision?"

"Soldiers of the Order...they were trying to kill me," Rey said, glancing away. "It was dark and raining, and—and Ben was there, he had his helmet on, he was with his knights, and—" she cut herself off, shaking her head.

Leia took in a deep breath and she lowered her gaze to the ground as she pondered what Rey had just told her. After a few moments, she straightened herself and smiled warmly at the girl. Rey's brows knitted together as Leia reached out and stroked her cheek.

"Rey, we'll always be on your side, Dear. Perhaps I can't speak for everyone, if your vision ends up true, but Luke and I—and your friends—we'll always be on your side," she assured her. "You should know that."

Rey smiled and hugged Leia, and she hugged the girl back snugly. As they pulled apart, Leia surveyed the myriad of colorful flowers around her. "Well, I'll leave you to it, to plant your new seeds," she said, smiling at Rey. "I'll see you tomorrow, perhaps."

"Yes," Rey said, nodding. She kneeled down in the dirt as Leia turned to leave.

Leia began making her way out of the garden, but she hesitated and turned. "Oh, and Rey," she said. She saw Rey's head perk up above the plants between them. "Please tell Ben that I got his letter. And that I miss him too," Leia said, and with that she turned and made her way back to the base.

* * *

Hope there aren't too bad of grammatical errors this round, I'm proofreading this one late at night...I thought I'd get this chapter out sooner, but I got caught up with other things. Don't worry, I won't abandon this story, seriously, no matter how long it takes! I hate leaving things unfinished (except my Uncharted fan fiction, may it rest in peace). I know how I want this story to end, and I want to see it come to fruition.

As for the story so far, we've come across some new revelations. Finn X Jess is progressing nicely, but poor Poe is left unrequited. Will he find love in the end? And what about Luke? Now that gay!Luke has finally been revealed, we can get a clearer insight into his motivation for leaving everyone and his desire to protect Rey. I planned for Luke to be gay from the start of these stories, as I felt it could be poignant to his character and I wanted to diversify this fictional world more (I hope Disney does too *cough* hoping for stormpilot *cough*). We've also seen that Leia has the option to return to her Alderaanian people as the rightful heir to the Organa throne. But will she?

Looks like Ben's taken it upon himself to give Rey his seed (pun intended). Do you think these two hotties will meet up on Coruscant, or will Rey actually listen to Ben's warning? Psshh, even Luke picked up on her stubbornness...

It seems that Snoke's hiding something on Mustafar. Wonder what he's up to? Sneaky bastard.

I know the most pressing question in all of our minds right now: _is Allan ok?_

PS Padawans: I know I don't post chapters as regularly anymore, and I know it sucks to wait a long time between chapters. But there _are_ tons of other Reylo fan fics to keep you occupied during periods of intermission...seriously, there are some amazing stories out there, as I'm sure you know.

I do like to take my time in fleshing out these chapters to make sure I'm tying up all of the necessary plot points, and I like to be at least somewhat consistent in chapter quality and content, so this takes time to compose. But I really do write for my own enjoyment, and I write on my own free time. I'm definitely still having fun writing this story, and I hope you are getting some enjoyment out of it too. Thank you for reading, and above all, thank you for being patient!


	12. Chapter 11 Coruscant

Rey groaned as she made a hard swing with her double-bladed lightsaber. Luke was just in time to brace against her swift attack. After he slid his weapon from hers, Rey leapt forward and swung her saber overhead to bring it crashing back down onto his. Rey gasped as Luke's saber was knocked cleanly out of his hands at the impact.

Stunned, she slowly lowered her long saber. She stood watching as Luke wiped the sweat from his brow.

"Very good," he said, slowly making his way over to the stray hilt of his saber. "Very, very good." Luke lifted his disengaged weapon and traced a hand up its hilt. The metal shone brilliantly in the morning sunlight. "I wish I could keep up with you," he said, nodding towards Rey with the hint of a smile. "We'll have to work more on things other than lightsaber combat in the future. My age is really starting to show."

Rey shook her head as Luke walked towards her. "No, it's not at all," she insisted. "Besides, you're the best lightsaber wielder in the galaxy—everyone knows that," she said matter-of-factly.

"There isn't exactly a lot of competition," Luke said, attaching his saber at his side. He nodded slowly as if affirming this to himself, and his mouth tightened into a line. "But you're wrong about that, Rey," he went on. "I am not the best anymore. There is another."

Rey disengaged her saber and hooked it at her hip, taking it that her training was over for the day. She shielded her eyes from the sun and squinted at Luke. "Snoke?" She guessed.

Luke shook his head and smiled, seemingly amused. "No, not _Snoke._ That old ghost probably hasn't wielded a lightsaber for centuries," he flouted. "No, the best is...younger. More _human."_ He cast her an expectant gaze.

"Ben," Rey concluded, nodding.

Luke laughed and slapped his leg. "I was talking about _you,_ Dear!" He hooted.

" _Oh,"_ Rey said, her brows pinching together. "Well, that's definitely not true. Ben is better than me."

"Have you _seen_ his lightsaber?" Luke scoffed. He made a hissing sound and imitated Ben's crackling weapon with quick wiggling movements of his fingers. "If only I'd been there to teach him how to properly make one!"

Rey laughed, reflecting on Ben's strange weapon. It was clear that he'd made it at a much younger age.

Luke stared at Rey a moment and let out a long sigh. "But I do see his influence in your fighting style, through that Force bond of yours," he admitted. "You seem to use a mix of two lightsaber combat styles, Ben's and your own." He straightened and turned to make his way out of the forest clearing.

As Rey followed behind him, a particular image of Ben's lightsaber caught in her mind: she remembered seeing its hilt lying here in the courtyard of the Organa base, when Ben had taken Poe's X-wing and left her her behind to keep her safe. _Then how does he still have it?_ She wondered.

"Luke?" Rey addressed, trotting up to his side. "When Ben came here—when you two quarreled, or whatever happened between you two—I thought he left his saber behind _._ It was lying on the ground when he left the planet...wasn't it?"

Luke nodded, a sly smile spreading across his face. "You're right," he said. "Good thing you were one of the only ones to notice that."

"Well—Ben has the saber, so how'd he get it back?"

"I sent it to him."

Rey furrowed her brows. "What? How?"

"I sent it along with one of our spy droids," Luke said, stepping over a large branch on the ground. "See, the Empire uses droids to service their ships. They buy them in bulk. To get our droids in, we just pay off one of their suppliers to include our droids with one of the shipment orders. So, when Ben left his saber here, I hid it for awhile to keep it from being destroyed, and then I sent it along with one of our spies."

"And...what, the droid just delivered the saber to him?" Rey asked incredulously.

"Mmm, most likely not. I programmed the droid to leave the saber in the ship it was servicing for the Empire. So, wherever it dropped the saber, a stormtrooper or—someone must have found it, and then brought it to Ben," Luke explained.

"So...Ben doesn't know it was _you_ who sent it to him?" Rey probed.

Luke shook his head. "No, I...I don't think so." He looked ahead as they neared the base.

"Well, do you want me to tell him?"

Luke hesitated. "I forgot you guys can communicate all the time."

Earlier in the morning, Rey had asked Luke about how he knew that she had been lying to the Organa base about Ben, and he'd merely said that he knew everything Leia did. This heartened Rey to speak more freely about Ben around him.

Luke sighed and shaded his hand over his eyes, turning his gaze up towards the sky as if Ben were floating right above them.

"Tell him I say 'hi,'" he said. He slowed to face Rey, and he clamped a hand onto her shoulder. "And tell him that if he thinks that fighting on the opposite side will keep you safe, he's got it all wrong. You think he'd know that already from his grandparents."

Rey observed the weariness that overtook Luke's expression. He looked at her a moment before turning away to head towards the base. She watched him until he'd made it to one of the entrances of the base before continuing on to her house, her mind swirling with the stories of Ben's famous grandparents.

Rey had known the story of Padmé and Anakin since childhood, having read about it in books as well as in the occasional tabloid magazine, a rare luxury to be found in the marketplace of tiny Niima Outpost. She'd sometimes even heard the two's story referenced in people's conversations on Jakku. Most spoke of their story with mysticism, as if it were a legend or myth—much like how they'd spoken of Luke Skywalker himself.

But she was well aware that the tale of Padmé and Anakin was one that spiraled into devastation and sorrow. Luke's warning reverberating in her mind, Rey was determined to keep her own story from following down the same sorry path.

….

Ben lowered to the ground in the isolated training room to begin his set of push-ups, a part of his mandatory daily workout routine. He closed his eyes against the dripping sweat on his forehead and concentrated on counting. _Twelve, thirteen, fourteen_ —

 _Ben, you there?_

 _Fifteen. Yes, Scavenger, Love. Sixteen_ —

 _I have something to tell you. From Leia and Luke._

 _Twenty. Twenty-one. Tell me._

Rey told him that his mother had gotten his letter, and that she said she missed him. She then went on to explain that it was his uncle who had sent his saber back to him through a spy droid. Ben was surprised to hear this; he'd automatically figured it had been his mother who'd devised a way to get his lightsaber back to him.

 _Forty-three. No, Forty-two. Forty...Kriff._

Ben dropped to the ground and rolled onto his back, having lost count while listening to Rey.

 _Ben, Luke also said…_ Rey began.

 _Yes? What else did he say?_

There was a few moments' pause. _He said 'hi.'_

Ben rested his hand on his heaving chest. He felt a pang inside him at the thought of his uncle, and wondered if his uncle still felt strong resentment for him, in light of the news that he had been the one to send Ben's saber. Memories flashed through his mind of when he had trained under his uncle on Tatooine years ago, alongside the other aspiring Jedi, alongside Nodin.

Unwilling to relive that fateful day when he'd betrayed Luke and the other Padawans, he forced the memories from his mind and concentrated back on Rey.

 _Oh, Ben, I almost forgot_ — _thank you for the seeds!_ _That was wonderfully thoughtful of you,_ Rey said. _What kind are they?_

Ben sat up and smiled. _I collected them here, on the base. I did some research through the HoloNet, they're some kind of pink and blue lilies. They can live in all different environments, so they should be able to grow on Trora just as well as they do here._

 _I planted them yesterday. Ah, I can't wait to see what they look like when they grow and bloom,_ Rey said. _And I can't wait to see you._

Ben got to his feet, his pulse quickening. _Rey, I told you, you can't come to Coruscant_ — _i_ _t's too dangerous. We'll meet another time._

 _When and where shall I meet you tomorrow?_ She asked, ignoring him.

Ben ran his hands through his hair. He missed her badly, and as much as he hated admitting it to himself, he felt conflicted over her present stubbornness. _Rey, no..._

 _If you don't tell me, you know I'll just find you through the Force once I get there,_ she pressed.

He groaned under his breath and began pacing. _I don't want you alone there...but I can't pick you up from your ship, I'll be travelling with my own crew…_

 _I'll be fine, just tell me where you'll be._

Ben sighed, his willpower melting at the thought of being able to reunite with her in a matter of hours. _We can... I'll meet you in the Spice District,_ he concluded. _It's relatively small, it's a popular place for tourists, it has high security. I think it should be fairly safe. It's not where my meeting will be, but it's close enough._

 _Why, where's your meeting at?_ Rey probed.

 _It's in the Factory District, but that's way too dangerous a place for you to venture, especially alone. Please, please promise me you'll just stay put in the tourist areas,_ he pleaded.

 _I will,_ she said.

Ben shut his eyes and rubbed his temples, hoping she would at least adhere to that.

….

A few hours later, Rey found Leia in her own quarters in the base. Leia had happily invited her into her spacious suite, and they sat across from each other in a large living room area.

"Now, what else was it you wanted to tell me, Dear?" Leia asked, clasping her hands in her lap. Rey had been telling Leia about her training that morning.

"I wanted to ask...well, I was going to tell you that I'm...I'm leaving tomorrow, to Coruscant, but only for a short time," Rey said quickly. She shifted on her chair, feeling nervous.

" _Coruscant?"_ Leia asked, tilting her head in confusion. Her movement reminded Rey of something Ben would do. "Why Coruscant? Are you going there with with your friends? You know, the nightlife there is unmatched."

Rey shook her head and swallowed. "No, I'm not going with them."

"Then...with who?" Leia probed, leaning forward on her couch.

Rey glanced away for a moment, gathering strength before returning to Leia's patient gaze. "I'm meeting Ben there," she finally said.

"Ah," Leia said, smiling and turning her gaze down to her hands. "I see." She looked back up at Rey, who shifted in her seat.

"We're just—we're meeting to discuss the war, is all, Ben is trying to play both sides here, with the Empire and the Order," Rey insisted, speaking quickly. "So it's a diplomatic meeting, really."

"I know he is," Leia said, nodding. She watched Rey closely. "You miss him," she said. It was more a statement than a question.

Rey hesitated, but she suspected her expression betrayed her feelings. "Yes," she declared earnestly.

Leia nodded and sighed. "And I'm sure he misses you." She rose from her couch and moved to a window to her side, facing away from Rey. "I'm not sure when this war will end, whether it will end in the remainder of my lifetime," she mused. "I suspect it won't. But...if you two could find a way...perhaps in joining forces…"

"But Ben won't join our side," Rey asserted. "I've already tried to reason with him, remember, he won't leave the Empire. He fears that will put me in greater danger."

Leia turned to face Rey. "Right, I remember," she said, nodding. She stared at Rey a moment, seemingly lost in thought. "Well, if he's going to continue to play double-agent, he best be careful. But you're clever, like him, you'll be there to guide him." Her face warmed as she moved towards Rey. "Now, if you're going to Coruscant, you'll need to play the part. What area of the planet are you going to?"

"Ben said we'll be meeting at the Spice District," Rey said. She looked up at Leia, puzzled. "What exactly do you mean, 'play the part?'"

Leia plucked at the fabric of Rey's dusty tan shirt. "If you're going _there,_ you can't show up in this," she chuckled. "You'll stand out. You need something to help you blend in. Here, I have...let's see…I still have some clothes from when I was younger..." Leia tugged Rey's reluctant hand and led her into her enormous closet.

Rey's mouth dropped open at the sheer number and variety of clothes in the woman's closet. She herself only owned a few simple outfits, and she generally put little thought into her appearance, as she hardly ever left the base.

Leia began filtering through her long racks of dresses. "I always wanted a daughter to do these things with," she mused. She paused to glance back at Rey, who visibly felt out of place. "Oh, this should be good fun," she said, smiling at the girl.

….

 _What if she's mugged? Or if she's seen by Empire spies?_ Ben worried to himself as he rode the elevator up the enormous skyscaper to meet his knights. He hadn't been able to keep his thoughts off of Rey all day as he'd travelled to Coruscant with his command shuttle.

 _Let me know when you're on-planet,_ he reminded Rey.

 _You've told me that at least five times now,_ she responded.

 _I know, I'm sorry. I just…_

 _It's okay, Ben. Actually...it's cute,_ she said. _But now you know how I worry about you all the time, since you're in active battles and all. It's only fair._

 _Then I don't want things to be fair._ Ben felt slightly disgruntled at being called 'cute.' He felt that the term was reserved for describing small children and animals.

The evening sunlight suddenly began to stream through the glass elevator as it passed up through the line of buildings that blocked out the reach of the sun beneath. Ben looked outside the glass for a few moments, admiring the view. The elevator dinged and signalled that it had reached the top floor, and Ben tensed as the doors flew open. His gloved hands became fists at his sides as he marched down a long hall towards the meeting room.

As he pushed through the doors, not bothering to knock, he surveyed all of the other knights inside, including Nodin. They'd left him a seat at one head of the long table, across from Nodin, who sat at the other.

"Good to have you, Master Ren," said Hector, one of the knights, and the others chimed in agreement as Ben sat down.

Ben nodded in solemn greeting to all of them and looked expectantly across at Nodin. He wanted nothing more than to be out of the room, and he was fairly sure this was apparent on his face.

"Now that Master Ren is here, we can begin," Nodin said, clearing his throat. "As previously stated, we're all here today to organize plans for the attack on Storia, as well as to discuss other potential methods of attack on the Organa Order." His gaze turned directly to Ben. "How many squadrons of stormtroopers has Admiral Thrawn allocated to the Storia attack, Master Ren?"

"Twenty-three," Ben said flatly. His jaw tightened at the thought of the hordes of troopers storming the base, a base ordained by his own mother. He had already begun planning how he would mislead his own troops in the battle to ensure their demise. Considering the large quantity of military resources the Order of Organa stored at this base, Ben had decided that this was not a battle that he would allow the Empire to win.

The other knights didn't usually have a hand in such large-scale battles, but Leader Snoke had insisted that they join in on this fight alongside Ben to increase the chances of overtaking the base. They usually were assigned to oversee various stormtrooper training camps, to aid in teaching combat tactics and to enforce order over unruly trainees.

Ben and the knights discussed the logistics of the Storia attack for what felt like hours, and all the while Ben was thinking of how he would undo them. Once the other knights felt that all of the plans were in order, they talked casually for a short while to ease the obvious tension, the white elephant in the room: that Ben and Nodin clearly no longer got along, and that Nodin had taken leadership of the group in the other's prolonged absences.

Ben sat silently as the others talked, waiting to hear from Rey. When he finally did, he swore his heart skipped a beat.

 _Ben, I'm here_ — _I just parked my shuttle in a lot,_ Rey said. _The air traffic here is terrifying._

 _Good thing you're a capable pilot. Rey, don't wander out of the district, remember. I'll be there soon_ — _I should be,_ he assured.

Ben placed his palms onto the table before him. "Alright, it seems everything is settled," he piped in, and the others turned in their chairs to face him. "There isn't anything left to discuss, is there?" he asked, hoping that the knights were ready to close the meeting.

"Well, we really should start planning an attack on the Organa base, assuming we overtake Storia," Nodin said, resting his own hands on the table. The knights' heads swivelled between Nodin and Ben, who frowned slightly.

"The Organa Base?" Ben repeated dubiously. He shook his head. "They are too heavily equipped, their main fleet is stationed there..."

"But are they any match for the entire fleet of the Empire?" Nodin questioned, raising an eyebrow.

Ben opened his mouth to speak, but hesitated. He wasn't so sure.

Nodin dropped his gaze and sighed, tapping his fingers on the tabletop. "I know...you still have an attachment to your mother," he said, his voice quieting.

Ben tightened his jaw and looked away from the men, not wanting them to see his face and perceive his weakness.

"And the Jakku girl," Nodin added. Ben's eyes flashed back towards his.

"None of that is of your concern," Ben said quickly, his brows lowering. His voice sounded less stable than he'd meant for it to have been.

"Now, Kylo, we must do what is best for Supreme Leader Snoke, for our Empire. As long as the Organa base is functioning as it is now, their fleet will only continue to expand and strengthen," Nodin explained. He slapped a hand down onto the table for effect. "We _must_ begin planning."

"I agree, we can't waste time," one of the other knights said, and Ben shot him a heated look. The other men nodded and muttered in agreement.

"This way, Leader Snoke will surely entrust us with more power," Nodin said, his eyes brightening. "He may one day even give us the right to preside over our own planets, perhaps our own galactic systems, if we are successful in taking down the entire Order of Organa." His eyes moved around the other knights and came to rest on Ben's. "After that, Master Ren, if you really find her such a good lay, you could just keep the Jakku whore as a slave. Although, I doubt the Supreme Leader would want her wasted in such a way, considering her supposed strength in the Force..."

All of the men turned apprehensively towards Ben, who sat rigid and silently fuming. His veins boiled with blind fury as he glared across at Nodin.

Suddenly, he found himself rising from his chair and in the same instant extending his hand out to strangle Nodin with the Force.

Nodin gasped and choked, his hands flailing, desperate to release the invisible hold around his neck. His face was red and pleading as Ben stood watching unflinchingly.

"Master Ren, I'm sure he didn't mean it like that," one of the knights, Farro, insisted, rising from his chair.

"The hell he did," Ben snapped, making a squeezing motion with his hand as he kept it outstretched. "I've seen what's in his mind."

Nodin released a sputtering squeal, clearly on the verge of complete asphyxiation.

"Master Ren!" One of the other knights pleaded, but the others remained silent, clearly to avoid the same fate as the one in his Force grip.

For a moment, Ben was set on strangling Nodin into death, but something soft and familiar came over him. He abruptly opened his hand, and Nodin dropped down into his chair, coughing and gasping.

Ben stared across at Nodin, remembering how the man had once taken him under his wing in their younger years on Tatooine, under Luke's training. Nodin had never been wholly malicious, and Ben sensed that the man still was not, despite his unsavory remarks about Rey. Ben knew from searching Nodin's mind that his distaste over her came from a place of jealousy, of a desire for Ben to return as his close friend, as they once were as children. Just as Ben used to, Nodin did not follow Snoke out of a place of evilness; rather, it was because he believed it was right.

Ben was not sure how he had compelled himself to release Nodin, the man he had come to despise ever since Nodin's part in the destruction of Luke's Jedi school, but he knew why: he still felt compassion for his former friend.

Ben lowered his tensed arm and looked around at the anxious knights as Nodin sat quivering with his head bent over his knees. "Is there anything else left to discuss?" He asked, struggling to keep his voice even. The men quickly shook their heads, and Ben patted his hands down onto the table. "Good," he said with a nod. And with that, he strode from the room, immediately searching for Rey's location through the Force.

… _._

 _This place really_ is _in eternal night, as you told me,_ Rey said to Ben. Her eyes flitted around the impossibly tall buildings and countless neon signs that surrounded the busy street. She'd spent the past hour marveling at the noisy, packed bars and well-dressed passersby all around the Spice District.

 _I'm on my way_ — _I sense you nearby,_ Ben said.

Rey smiled but nearly stumbled for the third time as her sandal caught on the hem of her ground-length dress, the one Leia had lent her. The rich charcoal fabric was thin and silky and smooth against her skin. She had never worn anything like it. Looking down at and admiring the dress again, she ran her hands down the fabric, which cinched at her waist and draped down the rest of her body like a dark waterfall. The dress was simple, but when she'd first seen herself in the garment in the mirror of Leia's colossal closet, she'd been taken aback at how elegant it made her appear.

Leia had even enticed Rey to allow her to do her makeup, on the condition that it too would be simple. It was obvious that Leia had enjoyed herself as she'd applied mascara to Rey's eyelashes and rouge to her cheeks and lips. Rey had wondered if the purpose of the makeup had been to match her outfit, or if it had been an excuse for Leia to give a makeup lesson to the daughter she'd never had.

Rey was glad she was wearing the dress and makeup as she gaped at the extravagant women that passed her on the street. They wore all sorts of elaborate designs and ornamentation, their dark makeup exaggerating their features. Rey touched her own mouth curiously as she saw many wearing their lipstick in a single stripe down their lower lip.

Rey felt underdressed as she watched these people pass by, and she pulled her dark coat closer around her. She had never been exposed to such wealth and glamor in all of her life.

As Rey felt Ben nearing, she tore her attention from people-watching. _Ben, where are you? I don't see you,_ she questioned, spinning around to survey the crowds surrounding her.

 _I see you,_ he responded. Rey's heart leapt in her chest and she whirled around to see Ben standing from across the crowd, lowering the hood of his coat.

"Ben!" Rey exclaimed unabashedly. She couldn't contain the excited smile that spread across her face as she weaved through the crowd to get to him. Ben likewise began to shove people aside less than carefully as he made his way towards her.

Rey managed to avoid tripping on her dress as she jogged the remaining distance to Ben, disregarding the stares of the people around her. She leapt up and wrapped her arms around Ben's neck, pressing a kiss up to his mouth. Ben gripped her waist and held her up to his level, kissing her back deeply. She could feel Ben's smile against her lips.

As he sat her back down, Ben's eyes flickered wildly over her face. He pressed a hand to her cheek. "Oh, I've missed you," he murmured. Now both of his hands held her face. "Are you alright? You look different."

Rey held tightly onto his arm."I'm fine, I'm just overwhelmed by this place," she said, and Ben nodded quickly. "How are you—How have you been holding up?"

"I'm great, _now,"_ he said, his eyes boring down into hers. He stared at her dazedly a moment before his eyes travelled lower. "What is this?" He asked, nodding towards her middle.

"Oh," she said, feeling self-conscious. She tugged her coat closer around her. "It's just—Leia let me borrow a dress and sandals, she said I needed to dress to blend in here."

But Ben was batting her hands away and opening her coat. He took a small step back as he looked her up and down.

"I know, it's silly, but your mother insisted—"

Ben shook his head quickly. "No, Rey, you look...stunning, I can't find the words," he said, dropping his voice and meeting her eyes again. He stepped closer towards her and pulled her coat closed. "We need to get you out of the public eye, before someone tries to steal you away," he purred, pulling her into his side and eyeing the passing people. He leaned down and kissed her. He smiled as he broke from her, and he motioned for her to follow him.

Rey stayed close to Ben's side as he led them through the throngs of people. To Rey's surprise, the shops and bars around them appeared to have gotten even busier.

"Do people here sleep?" She asked.

Ben chuckled. "Well, this district is known for its nightlife."

Rey was in awe at the loud songs pulsing from the various neon-lit club entrances they passed. She longed to go inside one of them.

 _It's not safe for us,_ Ben pressed into her mind, following her gaze. Rey looked up to see him giving her a sad smile. _We can't draw attention to ourselves._

"I know," Rey said aloud, nodding. "It's okay."

She looked ahead at the groups of people and creatures stumbling out of the bars. Their languid, drunken speech and clumsy gestures amused her.

Rey moved her right hand closer to Ben's side and felt for his hand. She held onto it and was flushed with warmth as she felt Ben's fingers interlacing between her own. He felt tense, and Rey sensed he was definitely on his guard. She glanced up at him, and he looked askance down at her, a smile playing across his mouth.

"Where are we going, by the way?" She asked.

Ben's eyes panned their surroundings ahead. "If I remember correctly, there's a spot up here you might like to see," he said. "It's less _busy,"_ he added, pulling her around a group of drunk people.

The further they went, the less people there were galavanting about the streets. Their hands still snugly clasped, Ben led her down an empty side street. Rey could see trees strung with decorative lights ahead.

At the end of the street was a small park-like area, and Ben led her down a narrow path to a gate, a large lake on the other side. Rey let go of Ben's hand and moved under the glowing trees towards the water's edge, feeling as though she were walking through a dream.

" _Wow,"_ she breathed, leaning forward against the gate.

Before her the lights of the city reflected and shimmered across the water's surface, dancing with the ripples. Far on the other side of the water was a skyline of skyscrapers and towers, all brilliantly illuminated in window lights and neon signs. The buildings reached up into the sky and, like this side of the lake, blocked out all of the light of the sun and stars.

She turned to Ben as he walked up to her side, his eyes on the view ahead of them.

"It's quite remarkable, isn't it?" He asked, his brows raising. "It's the city's water source, man-made but still a nice view. My parents took me here once as a child...I haven't forgotten it since." He turned and looked down at Rey, his eyes beaming.

"This is amazing, Ben," Rey breathed, placing her hand on his arm. "It seems impossible that something so beautiful could be found in such an unexpected place."

"It does," Ben said, his brows raising slightly as he gazed down at her. "But even Jakku has proven that possible."

Rey looked up at him, her cheeks growing hot in a blush. Ben stepped closer to her and tucked her hair behind her ear, his hand remaining to cup her face. He leaned down and kissed her gently, but with unmistakable fervor. As Rey's eyes closed, a swirling, hypnotizing warmth overcame her, and she gripped Ben's arm tightly, not wanting him to part from her, not wanting to ever let go.

But something knotting in her chest—was it guilt?—compelled Rey to pull gently away from the kiss. She knew Ben sensed this.

"What is it?" He asked softly, tilting her chin up towards him with his fingers. "Tell me, Love."

Rey smiled up at him briefly and opened her mouth, then shied and glanced away. "There's...something else Luke wanted me to tell you," she said, smoothing her dress against her thighs with her hands. "He said that...you should know that being on the Dark side won't keep me safe, that it isn't the answer to all of this, because of what happened between your grandfather and grandmother." She rose her eyes again to his, which had narrowed slightly.

Ben nodded, staring down at her wordlessly.

Rey crossed her arms over her chest. "But...what exactly did Luke mean by that?"

Ben appeared to hesitate. "Don't you know the story?"

Rey shrugged. "Not the details. I know Padmé died after Anakin turned to the Dark side. I know people said she died of a broken heart." She glanced back up at him.

Ben's mouth tugged to one side. "A myth," he said matter-of-factly. "It was Palpatine who killed her. He reached her through the Force."

"That's terrible," Rey said in a quiet voice.

Ben nodded and paced a few steps around her. He paused and turned towards her, his dark eyes searching hers. "But nothing like that would ever happen to you, Rey," he assured. "As long as Snoke knows I'm on his side, as long as you stay with the Order of Organa, you'll be safe."

"But what if Anakin had turned away from the Dark side?" Rey asked, stepping towards him. "Maybe he could have prevented it."

"No," Ben said, shaking his head. "I don't think there was anything he could have done. He joined the Dark side to protect her—just as I will remain with the Empire to protect you." His voice rose slightly.

"But—isn't that just repeating the same story of your grandfather again?" She asked, her brows creasing together.

There was a long pause as Ben stared at her. His shoulders appeared to stiffen.

"Ben, your grandfather realized that what he'd done was wrong, that he'd made the wrong decision," she continued. "He had to have known this, because he was redeemed by Luke before his end."

"I know the story, Rey," Ben said flatly. He looked away from her then, his eyes travelling around the city line behind her. "Maybe you don't understand, but Anakin had purpose in joining the Dark side, dedication to protect who he loved."

"But...wasn't Padmé put into danger because of Anakin's fall to the Dark side in the first place?" Rey asked.

Ben's churning eyes flickered back to hers, and Rey sensed that she'd struck a nerve.

"Ben?" Rey gently prompted, reaching a hand out towards him.

Ben sighed and ran his hands through his hair. "I don't know, Rey," he said, shaking his head. His hands flopped back to his sides and his brows rose in the middle. "I don't know what else to do, Rey," he said, his voice wavering. "Either way, you're not safe," he said, holding her upper arms. His eyes were moist and glistening as they searched hers.

"I feel safest with you," she breathed, melting under his gaze.

Ben lowered his face and kissed her. His lips were smooth and soft against hers. Rey let out a sigh as he wrapped an arm around the back of her waist, pulling her tightly into him.

"Tell me what to do," he said against her lips. "Tell me."

Rey shook her head slowly. "I don't know, Ben...either way, you're in danger, too. I don't want you with Snoke, but when you came to Trora last—" She cut herself off, images passing through her mind of the stationed Trora pilots' blasters aimed at Ben's ascending ship. She shook her head and leaned up to kiss him again. "All I know is I'm tired. Tired of it _all,_ of not being able to be with you," she said, searching his eyes.

Ben rose to his full height as he gazed down at her. "I'm tired, too. Perhaps…" He reached out and grasped her hand, his brows raising. "We can find a place to stay...for the night." His eyes stirred as a small smile formed across Rey's mouth.

Ben led Rey back through the streets while the clubs and bars remained as lively as they had been before. He glanced down at her continually, captivated, her hand clasped firmly in his. But his complete mental absorption of her had brought his guard down, had kept him from probing their surroundings with the Force. And so he did not sense the one in the shadows that had stood by, watching.

* * *

 _I'm baaack! I'm very grateful for your patience, Padawans. Our lovers have finally got together again! Good for Rey, forcing Ben to confront the reality of his choices, and the possibility that he's making the same mistakes as Monsieur Vader. But can she keep him from continuing?_


	13. Chapter 12: Tryst

Some thirst-quenching fluff ahead...

* * *

Ben never let go of Rey's small hand as he led her into the bustling lobby of a towering hotel. As they waited behind another couple for service at the front desk, Ben let go of her hand to remove his gloves, stuffing them into a pocket in his coat.

"Most everyone has my accent here," Rey said as she listened to the conversations of those around them. "The same accent as—well, the same one my father had, from what I remember."

Ben turned to give her a sympathetic smile, but she wasn't looking at him any longer. He followed her gaze as she gawked at their surroundings: the gold-framed paintings, the large velvety chairs, the enormous chandelier overhead, the ornate tile beneath their feet. Various people made their way in and out of the hotel's immaculate glass doors, as lavishly dressed and composed as the lobby's design.

Pressing into her mind, Ben found that Rey was completely overwhelmed by the amount of extravagance and wealth she'd seen in the past few hours.

"This certainly isn't Jakku," Rey remarked, turning to him with wide eyes.

"No, it certainly isn't," Ben concurred, staring down into her lustrous eyes. "Not all of the districts on Coruscant are like this, you know. Most are less...exorbitant."

The couple ahead of them moved away from the desk, and Rey grasped Ben's hand as they stepped up to the alien attendant.

"We'll need one room, just for the night," Ben said.

"Reservation?" The attendant asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, no reservation," Ben said, shifting his weight.

The attendant sniffed. "Hotel Zephyr is booked for the night," he said stiffly.

Ben reached into his coat and slipped out a sizeable wad of credits. He set the stack neatly onto the counter before the attendant. "We'll remain unlisted. And a room towards the top would be preferable," he said casually. He sensed the confusion churning in Rey's mind.

The attendant lifted his glasses from the wide bridge of his furred nose to study the credits now before him. A moment later he was typing hurriedly onto a computer. "Ah, it seems just such a room has become available—How convenient. Here, let me get your key—" The creature flipped around to dig through a drawer, and turned to hand Ben a card. "Here you are, Sir, floor 332. Near the top," he said. Ben took the card from the attendant's large paw and the creature wasted no time in gathering the stack of credits on the counter. "Have a good night, yes?" He said, nodding towards Rey.

Ben ignored the attendant and squeezed Rey's hand as he led her to a set of elevators at the back of the lobby. His heart was pounding in his chest at the very thought of being alone with her again.

"How many credits did you give him?" Rey asked as the stopped before the elevators.

After pressing a call button, Ben turned and looked down at her, his cheeks growing hot as he took her in: her wavy hair, her long, dark lashes, the snug dark dress peeking through her open coat. "It's amazing what people will do for money," he said after a moment. He gave her a small smile, nearly paralyzed by her beauty.

"Well, that was a _lot_ of credits…" Rey trailed as an elevator opened. "More than I've probably ever seen at one time." They both watched as a group of drunken people staggered out of the doors before them. They then entered the emptied elevator.

"Well, it was more than the usual price of a hotel room," Ben admitted. He typed in the number of their floor on a keypad as the doors closed and turned towards her. "But it's of no consequence; I'd pay anything to stay the night with you, Rey." He stepped forward and kissed her lightly on her mouth.

Rey gently broke from him. "That makes me sound like your prostitute," she chuckled, biting her lip.

Ben straightened and shook his head, his face flushing with heat. "No, I'm sorry, that's—that's _not_ what I meant. I didn't mean it like that," he said quickly, holding his hands out. _Great,_ he thought. _Now I've ruined it._

Rey smiled up at him, apparently amused at his distress. "I know you didn't," she said, sliding a hand up the sleeve of his coat.

Ben was comforted by her touch but his posture remained stiff, cautious. He felt panicky that Rey had gotten the wrong idea. "I mean—I'm not _expecting..._ things, at all, I just—you said you were tired, so," he explained, taking a small step back from her in an attempt to prove himself.

"You weren't?" Rey teased, raising an eyebrow. A hint of a smile remained on her mouth.

Ben shook his head. "No. No, in fact, we can just sleep tonight, if you wish," he said, his voice rising awkwardly. Despite the yearning he felt inside, Ben had to admit to himself that he would be happy with just being able to hold her in his arms all night. Studying Rey's face, he saw that it had softened.

Rey stepped towards him and pressed a hand up to his cheek. "Ben, you know you don't have to explain yourself," she said, gripping his upper arms. "You know I know you better than that." She wrapped an arm around the back of his neck, pulling his face down to hers, and he relaxed. He softly kissed her, and Rey leaned into him as she kissed back, her hands gripping the collar of his coat.

She kissed him with more intensity, and he responded in kind, sliding an arm around her lower back and pulling her into him. _Rey,_ he pressed into her mind.

Rey slipped her lips from his and hovered them at his ear, sending a shudder down his core. "I don't want to sleep tonight," she breathed.

Ben's heart fluttered strangely as he stared down at her, suddenly aware of the silent dimness of the enclosed elevator. His throat tightened and his gaze flickered between her eyes and mouth. "Then I won't let you," he purred.

Rey kissed him and he kissed her firmly back, his burning emotions seeping through their bond. Rey gripped the back of his coat and he flipped around with her, pressing her to the wall of the elevator. With a flick of his hand her coat was on the carpeted ground. He leaned into her, his lips crushed hers as he thumbed off one of the thin straps of her dress. He was about to kiss her bare shoulder when the elevator finally slowed and dinged.

Ben swiftly sent Rey's coat flying up into his hand as the door slid open, a couple standing in wait on the other side. Ben ran a hand through his presumably dishevelled hair as he stepped through the doorway, and he turned to grasp Rey's hand after she slid her dress strap back onto her shoulder.

He led her swiftly down the long hall, hurriedly reading the room numbers they passed. His pants were tight and he felt tense with nervous excitement.

"Here we are," he muttered, jamming his key into their door's slot. Once inside the dim room, Ben wasted no time to observe their surroundings, instead leaning down to kiss Rey and pull her back into his embrace. He kissed her open-mouthed, his lips consuming her own, all the while working to remove both of their coats. He was about to lift Rey and carry her to find the bedroom when she spoke up.

"Wait, hold on," she urged, wiggling out of his arms.

Ben reluctantly released her, and he watched as she moved slowly towards the enormous wall-sized window to their side. He followed behind Rey as her fingers traced along the luxurious furniture in the sitting area before the window, her gaze focused ahead.

" _Wow,"_ Rey breathed, "This is...it's…you can see the whole city from up here!" she marveled, taking in the expansive view of the buildings and lit streets before her.

The neon lights of a club below reflected on buildings before their hotel, silhouetting Rey's figure in a deep red glow that Ben found impossibly alluring. He stepped to her side and smiled down at her, warmed by her intrigue in such simple pleasures.

"This is the kind of places that I thought only existed in fairytales," Rey said. "A place for royalty."

"It _is_ nice, isn't it?" Ben murmured, sliding an arm around her waist. "You know, this planet used to be the capital for both the New Republic and the Old Empire," he said, glancing down at her.

"Is that so?" She asked, and Ben nodded as she looked up at him, the red lights glinting in her eyes.

Ben smiled at her and nodded, and she returned her gaze to the view before them. Ben stepped silently behind her, keeping his arm around her middle, his hand sliding to her stomach. Rey leaned her head back against his chest, and he lifted his hand to brush her hair away from her shoulder. He kissed her neck, and his heart jumped as he heard Rey emit a soft sight. She placed her hands over his, pulling them around her.

Exhaling a deep breath, Ben released the Force through his hands, warmth and energy surging down his arms and through his hands to hers.

Rey released his hands and turned around in his arms to face him. "We can go to bed now," she said, a small smile forming on her lips.

Ben held a hand to her cheek and kissed her gently, pressing into her mind how much he adored her, how much he'd missed her the past few weeks. A hot flush ran through his body as Rey sent the same things into his mind. Her hands lifted the hem of his shirt, and he helped her remove it between kissing.

Taking her hand, he began tugging her out of the sitting area and through a doorway to a spacious bedroom where a single bed-side lamp was lit. A wall-length window identical to the one in the sitting room was to the left of the large bed, but with a pattern of slats through which the same red light from below filtered in.

Ben stopped before the bed and began to kiss Rey without restraint. His kisses were urgent, even sloppy as his tongue sought hers, sliding against it. He slid the straps of her dress down her shoulders and the entire garment slid to the ground like liquid.

His breath caught at the sight of her bare breasts. He'd expected for her to have worn a wrap around her chest as she did before, but she wore only underwear now. Ben paused a few moments, marvelling at her body in the dim red light. He leaned in to kiss her, grasping at her round breasts, her hips, her butt, his body pulsing and his mind growing hazy with desire. Rey's face tilted back and he held the back of her head, his other hand wrapping around her to keep her close as his mouth travelled to her neck.

Rey sighed, and as he kissed her throat she undid the clasp of his pants. As Ben's pants slid down his legs he kicked them quickly aside.

 _Now we're even,_ he heard Rey's voice in his mind, and he stifled a laugh between kisses. Rey pressed against him and he backed up until his legs hit the edge of the bed. He sat atop it, pulling Rey up as she hurriedly climbed atop his lap, straddling him. He gripped her bare legs as she settled atop him, releasing a wavering breath. He took a moment to look into her eyes, to tuck her silky hair behind her ear before she grew impatient and kissed him again, her arms enveloping him.

Rey's hands twirled through Ben's hair as he pressed his mouth back into the warm curve of her neck. Ripples of pleasure surged through him as she shifted her hips atop him, indicating her own pleasure.

 _I want you, Ben,_ she pressed into his mind. _I need you now._

Ben slid back on the bed and rolled over with her, leaning up a moment to slide a pillow underneath her head. He began wrenching the bed covers out from underneath them, but Rey grabbed at his arms, impatient. Ben acceded and settled his weight atop Rey, kissing her passionately. Rey hooked a leg over the back of his thigh, pulling his hips more firmly against hers. Unable to contain himself, Ben shifted his hips against her, warm currentings spreading up through him. He wanted her badly, but even more so he wanted to take his time, to savor every feeling and moment with her.

But Rey made it clear she was unwilling to wait. She yanked down at the hem of his undershorts, freeing his throbbing member. After sliding his underwear off, Ben made quick work of sliding Rey's off and tossing them aside.

 _So we're even,_ he pressed into her mind, giving her a half smile. Kneeling at her hips, he took a moment to admire her nakedness, her panting body cast in the seductive red light. He met her heavy-lidded gaze as he moved back atop her, and Rey reached a hand up to pull his face down to hers and kissed him.

Ben positioned himself between her legs and Rey wrapped her arms around his shoulders. Feeling frisky, he decided to torture her a little longer. He buried his mouth into the side of her neck, sucking and nipping her skin. He snaked his hand down between their bodies and felt the wetness of the soft folds between her legs. Rey shifted beneath them as he felt her, her pleasure emanating through him like waves of heated energy. He watched as her mouth opened and her half-lidded eyes met his, the side of her face framed in red.

" _Ben,"_ she moaned, her brows lowering. _Now._

Unable to restrain himself any longer, Ben readied himself and settled onto his forearms. Rey gasped as he thrusted into her deeply, and released a quick breath as pleasure immediately surged up through him. He kissed Rey as he thrusted into her slowly, gently. When he was sure she wasn't experiencing pain, he thrusted more evenly, still keeping his movements slow. He wanted to take his time, to last longer than their first experience on Jakku.

Soft sounds escaped Rey's mouth as he pushed into her. Her eyes travelled up and met his as he picked up his pace slightly. Their eyes locked as she was shifted upwards with each of his movements, the bed beginning to squeak with each of his thrusts.

"Ben," Rey breathed. _Faster. Harder._

" _Kriff,_ Rey," Ben uttered, taken aback. He felt his passion renew twofold at her request, and despite his initial desire to move slowly, he couldn't hold himself back. He thrusted harder into her and she let out a moan.

Ben lowered and met her lips, continuing to press hasty kisses to her mouth as his pace increased. The bed creaked louder with his new pattern. Rey began to moan and sigh louder with each thrust. Her arms stretched out to either side of her, her fingers gripping the sheets.

Ben's lips brushed hers, and his upper lip twitched up as he thrusted hard into her, feeling the nearness of his peak. Sweat dripped from the ends of his hair.

Rey's head tilted back, clearly lost in the throes of pleasure. " _Ben,"_ she called. " _Ohhhh."_

"Quiet, Rey," Ben coaxed, his arms straining as he rocked into her. Her sounds continued to grow louder and he leaned down to kiss her again.

" _Oh_ — _ahh, Ben!"_ She exclaimed, her mouth agape.

Ben shifted his weight and clamped his hand down over her mouth, slowing his thrusts. " _Shhh, Rey,"_ he hushed, hoping his slower movements would quiet her. But Rey kept on moaning, his hand only partially suppressing her sounds. He placed his hand to her side and lowered back onto his forearms before kissing her again. He attempted to muffle her sounds with his own mouth as he thrusted slowly.

Nearing his finish, Ben rose up onto his hands again, hoping to finish quickly and keep Rey from disturbing their neighbors. The springy, creaking bed added momentum to his thrusts, allowing him to fill her as much as he could with each movement. Rey whimpered, jostled by his quick thrusts. She gripped at his arms, at the sheets, her hands sliding around, attempting and failing to grasp onto something. Her body began to shiver.

Ben finally neared his release, but he held himself back with the Force, waiting for Rey to finish off with him. He ducked his head and grunted, nearly growling as he thrusted roughly, on the brink of expelling himself. As he made his final few thrusts, he placed his hand back over Rey's mouth, her sounds intermixing with the creaks of the bed. Ben shut his eyes, seeing brilliant colors and hearing a strange crashing sound as he fell over the edge. His veins pulsed with energy and his body shuddered as Rey tightened around him in every way possible. He let out a long breath as he expelled himself within her, and with that, his arms immediately gave way.

He collapsed atop Rey, sweating and completely spent. He tucked his head above hers and slid his hands underneath her in a sweltering, weak embrace. For a minute he merely laid there, feeling Rey's chest rising and falling quickly underneath his. He then slid down and kissed her gently on the lips.

"How was it for you?" He asked breathlessly.

Rey's hand paused. "Couldn't you tell?" She asked, a sly smile pulling at her mouth.

"Not at all," he said, matching her smile knowingly. He lowered and rested his head between her breasts as her chest jolted in a soft laugh. He felt her kiss the top of his head.

"Did you hear the vase?" Rey asked quietly, and Ben craned his head again to look at her.

"The what?"

"The vase," Rey said, extending an arm and pointing to the base of the nightstand. Shattered purple bits of glass were scattered across the marble ground.

Ben stared at the pieces a moment before dropping his head back down to her chest, too exhausted to put much thought into the broken decoration. "Did we do that?" he mused.

"I think so," Rey mumbled, pressing another kiss to his head.

Ben's eyelids felt heavy and they slowly blinked closed as Rey's hand continued stroked through his hair. Easing into sleepiness, he couldn't wait to wake up and discover that Rey wasn't just a dream. His heartbeat began to slow into a sleepy, even rhythm that matched her own.

….

Rey awoke when Ben slid off of her to make use of the refresher. Rubbed her eyes, she kicked the bed covers down to finally slide beneath them. She watched Ben through the dimness as he got under the covers and slid towards her, his dark eyes locking onto hers. He wrapped an arm across her middle and pulled her into him, and Rey snuggled happily into the warmth of his embrace, sliding her legs against his. Ben slid lower so his head was par with hers and began peppering soft kisses across her cheeks and collarbone, his hand stroking her hair.

"Morning, Nerf Herder," Rey mumbled.

Ben leaned back and looked into her eyes. "We've only slept a few hours," he said, his voice low and husky. "Besides, it's never morning here. Remember?" He kissed her and slowly rolled atop her underneath the covers. He brushed his lips against hers and Rey felt the stiffness of his member against her. "It's always night here, Scavenger. So we can make love forever, until eternity," he purred, his mouth moving into her neck.

Rey shifted, the beginnings of desire knotting below. The feeling of his kisses on her neck and his hands at her breasts was electrifying. "Is that so?" She breathed.

"Uh-huh," Ben uttered. "And you said you didn't want to sleep, so…" He sunk his teeth into her neck and Rey's legs jolted at the unexpected pleasure that rippled down her body. Ben's hand began working between her legs as his mouth sucked at her neck, and she let out a quiet moan.

Ben rose and positioned himself to enter her, but Rey pressed a hand up to his chest.

"Wait," she said. Ben gave her a blank stare as she pushed him off of her. He rolled onto the bed next to her and she turned over to slide atop him. She leaned down and kissed him, then sat up, settling her weight onto her knees on either side of him. Ben sat up and kissed her again, his hand sliding around her back. Rey felt him turning his weight to roll back on top of her, but she pressed against him.

"Can we...try with me on top this time?" She asked, her cheeks flushing.

Ben traced a hand down her arm. "Of course, Love," he said, meeting her eyes in the dimness. He lowered back down to the bed, his eyes focused up on her.

His large hands slid to Rey's hips as she rose and grasped his shaft, and she heard him release a shuddering breath. Rey bit her lip as she slowly lowered herself down his length. She sighed, his member filling her deeply as her weight pressed down atop him. Ben's fingers dug into the flesh of her hips, gripping her tightly.

Rey began to slowly slide up and forward, down and back along him, Ben's hands guiding her movements. Rey remembered when they'd kissed like this back on Jakku. As she began to find an easy pattern, sounds escaped her and Ben. His gaze was fixated on her as she slowly rode atop him.

Rey's mind swirled and her body swelled with pulsing heat. Ben began thrusting his hips gently upwards with each of her forward movements, causing Rey to moan and grip his hands as they held her hips. His hands soon travelled up her stomach to her breasts, sending shivers through Rey's skin as their bodies formed a smooth rhythm together.

She wasn't sure how long this went on, so consumed as she was in the moment; time itself seemed to stand still. All she could focus on was the tension building below and Ben's dark eyes trained on her, the side of his face framed in red. The very air around her felt as if it were sucking into them, energy pulsing through her core up from her contact with Ben.

As she neared her peak, she sensed Ben reaching his, and he sat up to embrace her. Rey felt as if they were the only two humans alive, the Force circling around and enveloping them both as they struggled to breathe. Her mind felt connected and fluid with his own, and she was only barely able to hear the metallic straining of the structure around them as his feelings poured into her.

Ben's mouth pressed into her damp neck as his hips bucked harder. Panting for air, she moved more quickly with him as they found release together. Ben's lips held onto hers as he came in her. Their soft moans were muffled by their intermittent kisses.

"Ben," Rey breathed against his lips as she slowly descended the high, her legs still shivering.

Ben gripped the back of her head. " _Rey,"_ he responded, his lips brushing against hers.

Rey let out a long breath as Ben's face lowered to kiss her neck again. "I love you," she panted, running a hand through his damp hair.

"I love you too, Rey," he breathed, his voice gruff.

They remained in their embrace, enjoying each other's warmth before soon settling down under the covers and falling back asleep, Rey cozying up against Ben's chest, wrapped in his long arms.

….

Rey sensed they had slept another few hours when she woke again, this time to Ben's kisses on her shoulder. She turned around in his arms and met one of his dark eyes, half of his face sunken down into his pillow. His gaze shifted away for a moment and he flicked a lamp on across the room with his hand using the Force, illuminating the room in a weak yellow glow.

Rey shut her eyes and pulled his arm over her face. "No light," she groaned.

"I expect the sun would be up by now on Trora," Ben chuckled sleepily. He stroked her hair with his fingers, his eyes travelling over her face. He scooted closer to her and placed a soft kiss onto her lips.

Rey wrapped an arm around him as he kissed her gently, and his hand gripped her thigh. He tried pulling her leg over the side of his hip, but Rey pulled it back and pushed her hands into his chest.

"Too tired," she grumbled, burying her face into her pillow.

Ben stroked his hand up and down her side. "I thought you didn't want to sleep," he chuckled.

Rey turned and shot him a bleary, narrow-eyed look.

Ben laughed under his breath and smushed a finger against her lips. "I take it you're not a morning person. No need to be _cross,"_ he teased.

Rey narrowed her eyes further, knowing that he was using her word. She stared at him as he leaned over her, the ends of his mussed hair dangling and tickling her face.

"I just want to make love to you all day long, Kenobi," he murmured, lowering his face into her neck.

As he kissed below her ear, Rey's body warmed. For a few moments she succumbed to his impulse, and she closed her eyes as warm, pleasant sensations spread through her at the contact of his mouth to her skin. But she blinked open her eyes and shoved him off of her, wanting to rest. He rolled onto his back next to her and sighed.

"You'll have to return to your ship at some point," Rey said, searching his dark eyes. "I read your mind, I know you have a crew waiting for you. It wouldn't be fair to keep them waiting all day long."

"They wait on me, they follow my command," he said quickly, his brows lowering. "But I'm sure you need to begin your trek back to Trora soon, too," he added.

Rey frowned. "Not now I don't," she protested. She scooted against him and slipped her leg over the top of his. "We can stay here for awhile."

"I think we should get going," Ben said, sitting up and rubbing his head.

Rey stared at him blankly. "What? It's still so early, isn't it? We don't have to leave just yet." She gripped his arm, but Ben brushed her hand away.

"You're right, it's not fair to have my crew wait for me," he said, and began sliding out of bed.

Rey chided herself for having said anything. Her chest tightened and she tugged again at his arm, this time with sudden desperation. But his arms slipped through her grasp, and she watched with wide eyes as he made it around the end of the bed. "No, no, wait, Ben, _stay._ I didn't mean—"

Ben abruptly turned around, a dark smile on his face. "You really believed me right now?" he questioned, chuckling.

Rey sat back and let out a relieved breath. "Yeah...I did."

"You have the ability to read my mind, remember," he teased, getting back onto the bed. He was still smiling as he climbed up her body.

Rey wrapped her arms around him, pulling his face to hers to kiss him. "Don't scare me like that anymore," she said.

"But scaring you has always been so fun, Scavenger," he teased, nipping her ear.

Rey smiled as she remembered the times he'd unexpectedly turned up behind her, such as when she'd been listening to the sound of the nexus on Drecenia. She pressed the memory into his mind, and Ben rose to smile back at her.

"Exactly," he said. "If only we'd been able to stay there longer, in that little house," he mused, pausing to kiss her. "It would be nice to stay there now, to just have each other and be away from the rest of the galaxy."

"And have nexus clawing down our door every morning?" Rey asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Hey, they were great company," he teased. His eyes travelled lower, and he shifted down to kiss her breast.

Rey's breathing quickened at the sensations pulsing through her. She couldn't keep her legs still. "Ben, we can...um…" she began.

"Have sex?" He murmured, reading her mind. His eyes rose to meet hers. His hand rose to brush her hair from her face. "If you want." His gaze shifted and he tilted his head. "But...I was thinking of something else, first," he mused.

"Like...what?" Rey asked cautiously, but Ben didn't answer, instead lowering his gaze and shifting to bring his mouth to her other breast. Rey furrowed her brows at him, then closed her eyes as his lips travelled lower, peppering kisses down her stomach. Rey sighed with pleasure, growing tense as his mouth moved lower, trailing kisses down to her belly button. Rey's body shivered as his face lifted and he slid from the bed. She watched him curiously as he sunk to his knees on the ground and gripped her legs, sliding her hips to the edge of the bed, towards him.

"Ben," Rey breathed, confused as he pulled her legs up onto his shoulders. He appeared transfixed, his gaze caught between her legs.

Rey tried to sit up, but Ben glanced across at her and pushed her down with a swift flick of his hand with the Force. She stared at him as he positioned his face between her legs. "Wha—oh...Ben... _oh,"_ Rey sighed. Her body involuntarily jolted and her hands reached down to grab at Ben's hair.

….

"Are you finally satisfied, Kylo Ren?" Ren teased, rubbing her nose against his.

Ben let out a breathy laugh as he rubbed a towel over his face, his hair still dripping from the shower they'd just taken together. "Never," he said huskily, searching her eyes. He stepped forward and cupped the side of her face as he kissed her, his hand running down her back, loosening the towel wrapped around her.

Rey allowed her towel to drop from her body, and she smiled as Ben's eyes traced over her and rose back to meet her gaze. She wondered if she'd ever get used to the way he looked at her. Her own gaze moved over Ben's strong chest and stomach, the towel around his hips concealing the spot she most enjoyed studying with her eyes. She sensed Ben reading her mind.

"If I take this off, Rey...I can't promise I can hold myself back," he said, his mouth tugging in a knowing smile. He stepped towards her, his gaze moving between her lips and eyes. "We'd have to shower again...and you know how my poor crew is waiting for me," he teased, his thumb moving across her chin.

"Funny...I'm starting to feel less sympathy for them, all of a sudden," Rey said, smiling.

Ben smiled back, but Rey noticed a twinge of sadness in his expression. They both understood they had to part ways again. "Well...we should get dressed," he said, sighing and moving into the bedroom. Rey wrapped her towel back around her and moved after him to find her clothes. She watched him as they dressed silently. He appeared solemn and completely focused on the task at hand.

Rey had felt thrilled at seeing him—large and imposing as he was—nervous and cornered in the elevator before, when she'd teased him about his wording. But feeling and seeing him silent with sadness—that pained her.

"Ben," Rey coaxed, stepping towards him after she'd slipped on her dress, "come here."

Ben rose to his full height from sliding on his shoes, and he looked at her with troubled eyes. He swallowed and moved towards her slowly, his steps heavy. Rey held his arms as he stopped before her.

"We'll see each other again soon, you know we will. If we could make _this_ work, I don't see why we can't find a way to meet up regularly," she said, searching his narrowed eyes.

"I hope we can," he said, his eyes searching hers. Rey sensed his mind churning with thought, but she didn't want to invade his head before he had a chance to speak. Ben's gaze lowered for a moment as he took her hands in his. "I want to spend the rest of my life with you," he declared softly, his dark brown eyes boring into hers. "You know that, don't you? Whatever comes our way, wherever this war takes us...I want to be with you, as much as I can."

Rey blinked, taken aback by his serious tone, and nodded. A small smile spread across her mouth. "That's what I want, too. To be with you forever," she said, leaning up to kiss him. As their lips parted, Ben stroked his hand through the length of her hair.

"I mean…" He began, but he faced away, seemingly in thought. But through their bond Rey sensed shyness, and she pressed a hand up to his cheek.

"You can tell me anything," Rey coaxed, "although, I _could_ just pull it from your mind."

Ben turned and met her eyes again, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "I was going to say...I would ask you to marry me, but a ring would obviously be too conspicuous, and—well, I shouldn't repeat my grandparents' mistakes, as you said before. A secret marriage—it's not the best idea, right now," he said, studying her. "Do you agree?"

 _Marriage._ Rey was taken aback. She'd never thought of marriage as a possibility in her future, especially when she'd lived on Jakku. But even since Ben had come into her life, she'd never even thought of it. _Marriage,_ she repeated in her mind. "I—yes, I agree," she finally said, her brows pinching together.

Ben's eyebrows lowered. "Did I upset you? I'm sorry, I didn't mean that we couldn't marry now, Rey, we can, I just—"

"No, _no,"_ Rey urged, leaning up to kiss him. "It's just that I...I never even thought about it. Marrying, I mean," she said, staring up at him.

"Oh," he said, surprise crossing his face. "All the same, I didn't mean to be so forthright. But if it's not something you'd want with me, that's fine, Rey..." he said, his voice softening.

Rey shook her head, a wide smile spreading across her face as she wrapped her mind around the idea. "But I do, Ben, I do," she insisted, and Ben smiled back at her, apparently relieved. "I just—I never thought it would be something that ever happened for me. I didn't think it would ever be a possibility." She gazed up into his eyes lovingly, and he leaned down to kiss her. She gripped his face, holding the kiss, savoring it, and he wrapped his arms around her, lifting her from the ground for a few moments.

As he lowered her back down to the gleaming marble floor, he lowered his brows and turned around to lift his coat into his hands with the Force. He dug through the coat's inner pockets as he faced her again, his face focused. Rey watched curiously as he procured a small box and she scrunched her brows he slid it into her hand.

"Well, there is...this, if you want it," he said, opening the box in her open palm.

"Oh...wow," Rey exhaled, looking down at the small sparkling diamond set in the cushion of the box. "Ben...I...I can't take this..." She was at a loss for words.

"Of course you can," he said, lifting the diamond, and a tiny silver chain fell out, attached to it. He walked behind her and brushed her hair to the side to fasten the delicate necklace around her neck. As he walked around to face her, he smiled. "Less conspicuous," he noted, meeting her eyes. Rey looked down to see the small stone covered by the fabric of her dress, only the chain showing, so thin she knew it wouldn't attract attention.

"Take it as a promise, that we will be together one day, as family," Ben said, kissing her forehead.

 _Family._ Looking up at him dazedly, she fully realized that this hadn't been a spur-of-the-moment conversation; he'd obviously thought about this, planned this. For how long, she had no idea, but she sensed longer than she could guess.

 _Family._ What she'd always wanted, craved. To have real family. Tears forming in the corners of her eyes, Rey stepped forward and wrapped Ben in a hug, overcome with emotion, and he rested his head on hers, holding her close.


	14. Chapter 13: Memories and Making up

"Come on, Ben, so we can talk a little longer."

Rey smiled back at Ben as she led him up the ramp into her small shuttle, parked in a crowded outdoor public hangar. Ben had insisted on walking her back to her shuttle after they'd checked out of the hotel, his paranoia getting the best of him; he'd wanted to ensure that she didn't run into any trouble on her way back.

As they stepped up into the small craft, Rey released Ben's hand and stepped towards the control panel. The wide window before the panel was covered with a metal shade, blocking the view of the outside. Ben looked around the single room, noting the quality of the finishes. It was evident to him that the Order of Organa had been able to invest in new and improved spacecraft.

Ben remained in place near a circular counter in the center of the craft as Rey flipped a switch on the control panel, drawing the loading ramp up from the ground. He focused on Rey as she strode toward him, the ramp sealing and shutting out the noise of the people outside. He smiled and and brushed the hair from her face, memorizing her features. He remembered what he'd meant to bring up before, and he opened his mouth to speak. But he held himself back, not wanting to ruin Rey's high spirits.

Rey caught onto his confliction immediately. "What is it?" She asked, her brows furrowing. She pressed into his mind, but Ben kept her away from the thoughts he was about to speak.

He shifted his jaw. "If I were to show you a memory...a dark one...do you think you could handle it?" He asked, taking in a deep breath. "It's something I need you to share with Luke."

Rey looked up at him concernedly, and she nodded. "Yeah. Of course I can, Ben. I'll share with him anything you need me to," she assured.

"It won't be easy to see, Rey," Ben warned. "It will upset you." He turned around, looking for a bench, but the only seat in the small space was the tiny pilot's chair. He motioned towards it. "You should sit down."

Rey shook her head. "No, I'm fine. Show me," she said, lifting his hand.

"It—it may change your perspective of me, but it's something you deserve to know. It's something I should have told you more about earlier," he admitted, and nodded towards her chest. "You might just end up taking that necklace off," he teased, meeting her eyes, but he was partly serious.

"Ben, I don't understand—nothing you could ever show me would change the way I feel about you," she insisted, gripping his hand tightly. "Show me," she repeated.

Ben sighed quietly as he stared at her a moment, then lifted his hand and placed it on the side of her forehead. He watched as Rey closed her eyes, waiting patiently. He sent the warmth of the Force through his hand first, hoping to ease the stress of what was to come. She smiled at the feeling, leaning into his hand, and Ben shut his own eyes.

He cleared his thoughts of the present and focused through the Force on one of the memories he'd buried deep in his mind. He didn't consider this just a memory, even, but a nightmare. As the memory formed and came into being, he recalled the thundering sounds he'd heard that appalling day…

 _Ben stood amongst his fellow Padawans, most of them younger than himself. He observed all of their smiling faces, turned up towards the sky as rain began to fall. His eyes caught on tiny Rey, the youngest of the lot, her fingers reaching upwards as if trying to grasp the clouds themselves. She looked towards Ben and laughed._

" _Look, Ben! Ben, water from the sky!" She giggled. Ben smiled at her a moment, warmed by her innocence._

" _Rain on Tatooine? Unheard of!"_

 _Ben turned to see his uncle Luke walking towards the group, his hands held out on either side of him to catch the falling drops. Luke's broad smile mirrored that of the children around him. Ben turned his gaze upwards, but he did not smile. No, the rain today was no happiness to him, but a sign of what was to come. It was not miraculous; he thought it an omen of the Force._

Skywalker...you are ready for us now, _the distant voice in his head said._ We are coming.

 _Ben shuddered and turned as thunder sounded overhead. He flipped around at the feeling of a hand on his shoulder._

" _They are coming, Brother. Soon we'll join the ranks of the First Order," Nodin said, sliding his hand from Ben's shoulder and stepping in front of him. "Soon we'll have the power_ —"

" _The First Order?"_

 _Ben felt as if his heart had stopped as Luke moved towards them, looking between them._

" _Did you just say 'the First Order?'" Luke questioned, staring at Nodin, who shrivelled beneath the man's tall stature. "How did you two even know about that?" Luke turned to his nephew, his expression both concerned and mystified. Ben opened his mouth to speak, but no words came._

Do it now, _the voice in Ben's head said._ Do it.

 _Ben pressed his hands to the sides of his head, shutting his eyes and shaking his head wildly. "No, no…" he lamented aloud._

 _Luke's expression turned from stern to concerned as he crouch before Ben. "Ben, what's wrong? Your headaches again?"_

 _A deep rumbling sounded in the sky behind them. Ben knew it was no thunder._

 _Luke slowly rose, his eyes narrowing as he focused on the sky above._

 _His hands still on his head, Ben watched as Nodin took out his green saber and ignited it before himself._

" _They're coming," Nodin said, looking up at Luke with a smile that Ben thought was nothing short of psychotic. "The First Order. They're coming."_

 _To Ben's surprise, Luke took a step back from Nodin, his uncle's expression turning to stunned realization. Luke looked to Ben, his blue eyes wide. He seemed about to speak to his nephew when a terrible screeching sound grew louder in the sky. Luke reached forward and grabbed Ben's arm, yanking him towards the line of huts behind them._

"Kriff, _Come on, Ben! Everyone, run! Get inside, now!" Luke shouted, pointing to the huts, but the children remained fixated on the TIE fighter soaring toward them through the clouds. The children shrieked as the TIE passed overhead, and it released a brilliant blast, destroying several huts and igniting others in swirling flames._

 _Luke slid to a stop with Ben and looked back at the children, all scattered and panicked. They screamed as the TIE began to circle back. Luke looked at Ben with wild eyes and shoved him away from the huts. "Go, get to the ship, start it up! I have to gather the others!" Luke yelled as he ran back towards the other Padawans. "Go, now!"_

 _Ben staggered back a few paces at his uncle's shove, but then found himself frozen in place._

Fulfill your destiny, _the voice in his head said._ You cannot escape it.

 _Ben shook and found himself able-bodied again. He began to run after his uncle, deciding it would be better to help with gathering the children. He chased after two young boys and was about to grab one when a booming, brilliant blast from the screeching TIE exploded before him, sending him flying backwards._

 _When he rose and swiped the dirt from his eyes, his mouth dropped open in numb shock at the sight before him. Where there were once two Padawans, there was now a dark, steaming crater. Ben held his stomach and hunched over, suddenly nauseous._

 _He rose and watched in uncomprehending horror at the sight of the TIE destroying the remaining huts, and Nodin driving his lightsaber through the back of one of the older Padawan girls._

 _Nodin caught Ben's gaze and gave him the same unsettling smile he'd given Luke. "Get them, Ben," he urged, "Fulfill your destiny!"_

 _Ben trembled and flipped around at the sound of more deep rumbling, again too metallic to be thunder. A large silver shuttle landed, and a squadron of stormtroopers rushed out almost as soon as the ramp had dropped down to the sand. They began shooting immediately, taking down the Padawans who had no chance of cover of escape._

 _Too overwhelmed to react, Ben remained in place and watched the scene unfolding before him. He caught sight of tiny Rey with her three buns running desperately through the sand. Ben felt her fear, her confused panic through their bond. He found himself suddenly sprinting toward her, wanting to shield her from the blasts of the stormtroopers. But just before he reached Rey, he forced himself to a stop, realizing that trying to save her would put her in greater danger of being taken by the First Order along with himself._

Do your duty. Bring the Kenobi girl, find the darkness within you. You cannot resist it! _The voice demanded._

 _Ben shut his eyes and was frozen in place as he felt an icy cold rush running through him. He knew it was the power of the voice in his head, the one who called himself Supreme Leader._

Remember how your parents abandoned you here. You were never their priority. Your father never accepted you. _You,_ the one so strong in the Force! Your parents left you to be your uncle's problem, _the voice sneered._ They never loved you, and neither does your uncle!

 _Ben felt physical pain at the words spoken in his mind. Tears stung his eyes and he choked out a sob._ I can't do it, _he told the voice._ I feel the pain but I can't do it.

Then I'll show you the power of the Dark side, _the Supreme Leader said, and Ben felt himself moving forward towards a boy that had run past him. Unbridled anger surged through him, and his blue saber was drawn, poised to strike. He did not even breathe as he felt his weapon push through the boy's back._

 _The icy coldness began to leave Ben as he stood over the prone body, struggling for air. He gasped and staggered backwards, staring between the boy's motionless body and the ignited saber in his hands, not able to comprehend what had just happened._

" _Ben! Oh, how could you! Ben!"_

 _Ben flipped around and was horrified to see Luke staring at him from a distance away. Rey was draped over his shoulder, her feet kicking wildly. "Uncle…" Ben began, but he could not even begin to explain himself to someone who had never believed in the voice in his head in the first place._

 _Luke's face hardened, and after a moment's hesitation he turned and ran with Rey to his ship over the sand dunes amidst the dust and confusion._

" _Don't leave me!" Ben yelled, dropping the blue saber to the sand and staggering after Luke. "Uncle, please don't leave me!" His body was weak with nausea and he collapsed forward into the sand._

 _He didn't know how long he'd been lying there, sobbing and inhaling the dust until he began to be dragged backwards by his ankles._

Now you'll join us, _the voice said._ Now you will find acceptance. Strength. Power.

Ben yanked his hand from Rey's head, not wanting her to see further, the emotional and physical torture he'd subsequently been subjected to. His chest heaved as he gripped Rey's upper arms. She slowly blinked her eyes open, her expression both confused and pained.

Ben shook his head. "I'm sorry you had to see all of that, Rey," he said softly, swallowing.

"Snoke...he _made_ you do that," Rey breathed. "He _controlled_ you, like a machine..."

"I didn't want to have to subject you to that, but I—Luke needed to know. I didn't intend to kill that Padawan, _or_ join the First Order. I've killed, _yes,_ I'm a criminal, a _weapon,_ but I can't live with myself knowing that Luke thinks this was all by choice."

Rey furrowed her brows and gripped the back of his head, pulling his face down to hers. She kissed him and held his face for several long moments, her breathing intermixing with his. "But...you _have_ a choice now, Ben," she said, her eyes concentrating on his. She took his hand. "Leave with me now."

Ben rose and looked down at their joined hands. "I won't leave and put you in greater danger," he said resolutely. "We've gone through this before. If I join you with the Order, you'll be a much bigger target for the Empire."

"I don't _care,"_ Rey said, frowning. "You think I care if they come after me, us? The Order of Organa is strong, it's much larger than it was before—Ben, we can take on the Empire, together."

Ben's jaw tightened, not wanting to argue but needing to explain himself all the same. "No, Rey, we can't," he said, his voice taut. "The Empire is too powerful. _Snoke_ is too powerful."

"We can take him on, Ben. Don't you get it? We're strong enough in the Force, the both of us," Rey insisted, her voice rising.

"'Take him on?' I thought you'd dropped that delusion. Even if we _did_ match him in our combined Force ability, that's still a fifty-fifty chance that we'd beat him," Ben said, struggling to keep his voice and even. "And what then? There's no guarantee we'd kill him permanently—he's cheated death once and came back even more powerful. Who's to say he couldn't do the same again? It's not a risk I'm willing to take."

Rey pressed her hands to her temples for a moment in frustration. "Ben, we _have_ to try. That's the only way that _any_ of this will end, don't you see? _We_ are the only way Snoke will ever be stopped—otherwise, this war could last a lifetime!" Her cheeks grew red, and her chagrin rippled through the bond to Ben.

"You don't _know_ Snoke like I do, Rey. You saw the vision, he can control people when he's at his strongest. And he has something on Mustafar, a power source of some kind—whatever it is, it gives him unnatural power. It's even kept the Force dormant _._ His power, it's just not something we could ever go against. I don't care how strong we are, I'm not going to risk your life to fight him. That's never going to happen."

"Then I guess we're never going to get _married,_ Ben," Rey snapped, saying the word as though it were a slur. "Why did you even bother bringing _that_ up if you knew it was never going to happen? You know, I got really excited thinking about being together for the rest of our lives, like you said," she scoffed. "At least you have your own family still, I have none. Way to taunt me with that idea, you really got me good."

Ben winced at her pain through their bond, the source of her anger now crystal clear to him. "I still mean what I said before, Rey," he said firmly. "I'm sorry if you don't believe me. But I'm _not_ going to put you at risk by leaving Snoke, or by going against him right now. You saw what happened, he could make me _hurt_ you, Rey, if he knew we were together. I _can't_ risk that, I can't leave—" he stopped himself to suck in a breath. "Being on the side of the Empire, I have all of the strategic and military intel to control the outcome of each battle—I can ensure you and my mother are protected, that the Empire doesn't win in the end."

"But we don't know when it _will_ end, Ben! If you're never leaving the Empire, then why did you make a promise _you can't keep?"_ She slipped the tiny diamond from under her dress and extended it out to the end of its chain.

Ben stared at her dejectedly, waiting for her to break the necklace. He could care less about the ornament himself, but it was the meaning behind it he feared she would sever: the promise of spending the rest of their lives together. After a long moment of tense silence, Rey dropped her gaze and lowered the diamond.

"I just can't live like this, Ben. I can't live with the question of whether the war will end before we die, or if you'll die in battle, or by Snoke's hand—it's all _too much."_ She took in a deep breath, looking to the ground. "I need to go," she said after a few silent moments, her voice quieting.

Ben looked down at his shoes and closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath to gather himself, the pain that was welling inside. Rey had gotten upset, that he had predicted, but not for the reasons he'd expected. He nodded and swallowed as he rose his head, meeting her moist eyes. He moved towards her, hoping to kiss her one last time, but she turned her gaze and held a out her palm, blocking him with the Force.

"You need to go now, too," Rey said matter-of-factly. She did not meet his eyes. She turned and went to the ship's control panel, switching open the craft's ramp.

Ben remained in place as the ramp lowered and clanged down onto the floor outside. He stared across at Rey's back, panicking internally. Memories flashed through his mind of the many fights of his parents he'd been witness to, the way his father would end up storming out of their house on Hosnian Prime and leave his mother in tears. Their fights always ended like that, unresolved.

Ben didn't want to make that mistake of his parents with Rey. He took a step towards Rey's chair. "Rey, no...we can't part like this," he said, his voice unsteady.

Rey turned in her chair, her brows pinched together. "I said, _go."_

Ben averted his gaze, clenching his jaw at the sting. He nodded at the ground and reluctantly turned, taking a few heavy steps towards the craft's opening. As he stood at the top of the ramp, he turned back towards Rey, who still faced the control panel. "I'm sorry this is how you feel," Ben said, dropping his head and struggling to breathe against his tightening throat. He straightened and looked back towards her. "You're the love of my life, Rey, I—I'm not willing to risk your life like that," he said, his voice breaking as he again saw his parents arguing in his mind, their tears and their pain.

Rey turned in her chair, her cheeks stained with tears. Sniffling, she rose from her chair and stared across at him, her gaze doleful. "I know," she said, her voice trembling. She wiped a hand over her eye. "Ben...I'm just so scared to lose you—I'm...I'm s-sorry," she croaked, stepping in his direction.

Ben moved towards her, cautiously at first, but Rey stepped towards him again and he rushed the remaining few steps, meeting her with his arms spread wide to envelop her in a tight embrace.

"I'm sorry, so sorry," she cried against his chest.

"It's okay, it's _okay,_ Rey," he soothed, kissing the top of her head and quickly brushing her hair from her damp, rosy face.

Rey's fingers dug into his back as she gripped his shirt underneath his coat. "I'm sorry, Ben, I hurt you," she breathed, wrapping a hand up around the back of his neck. "I felt your pain. Your parents…"

"Shh, it's okay," he soothed, rubbing her back. "I know you didn't mean it. I don't want to hurt you either, Rey, I'm sorry." He tilted her face up and kissed her, flowing the warmth of the Force into her to comfort her.

Rey held his kiss and gripped the fabric of his shirt tightly. She began to kiss him more firmly, and Ben matched her, kissing her open-mouthed as he held the back of her head. Rey slid a hand up to his hair, knotting her fingers in its strands, their lips sliding together in deep, wet kisses.

 _"Ben,"_ Rey panted, a hint of desperation in her voice.

They broke for mere seconds to pull of their coats, and as their lips crashed back together Rey leaned into Ben. He took a wobbly step backwards. He was simultaneously lightheaded and relieved as he felt the heated passion and urgency brewing between them.

With a motion of his hand, Ben brought the ramp of the craft back up before pressing himself Rey, backing her against the counter in the center of the craft. She released a whimper as he gruffly gripped her hips and lifted her, setting her on the countertop. She was quick to wrap her legs around his hips, locking him against her. Ben slid his tongue in and around her mouth, holding her face to his with his hands. Rey's hands slid through his hair, strands of it falling across his forehead. Quiet, desperate sounds escaped him as their kissing grew hasty and their hands clumsy.

Ben rashly pressed his mouth into Rey's neck, and he felt her shudder. Her arms wrapped around him, her fingers digging into his shoulders through his shirt. Ben pressed into her mind that he wanted to take her here, now, to express his burning feelings for her without words, and Rey responded by squeezing her legs tighter around him, drawing him in.

With one hand Ben brought up the bottom hem of her dress, bunching it at her thighs. He slid his hand underneath her dress, rubbing his fingers hard over the soft fabric of her underwear, and she gasped. He flushed at the dampness of the fabric; she was already ready for him. He curled his fingers over the hem of the fabric and slid them down her legs, dropping them to the floor.

Ben kissed her sporadically as he hurriedly undid the clasp of his pants. He slid down the hem of his undershorts just enough to free his hard shaft. He positioned himself with one hand and gripped Rey's face with the other, crashing his lips into hers as he thrusted himself into her.

Rey whimpered and pulled at his hair as he thrusted into her forcibly, her body jostled by his rough movements. Ben trailed wet kisses up her neck as his hands tightly gripped the sides of her thighs, his fingers digging into her soft, warm skin as he held her in place, stabilizing her to receive his thrusts.

Ben grunted with effort and soon felt the nearness of his peak. He sensed Rey following up the same steep path, her moans resonating in his ears. He buried his face into her neck, sucking hard at her sensitive skin. The structure of the craft strained and creaked in the background as overwhelming warmth encompassed them both, flowing through to the other their shared bond.

As Ben climaxed with Rey, powerful, pulsing currents surged upwards from their contact below. Rey tightened around him, and Ben moaned, shuddering and ducking his head into her neck as he released himself. Rey's own intense pleasure intermixed with and heightened his own, and by the sounds of her quick whimpers it was clear to him that this worked both ways.

As his mind and body settled, Ben rested his forehead on Rey's shoulder, breathing hard. He felt her quivering legs slowly begin to loosen around his hips, and he slid his hands up and down her smooth thighs. He trailed his lips up her neck to find her mouth and he kissed her slowly, intermittently, as they both panted to catch their breath. He traced his fingers down her hot cheek, still damp from tears. Rey's hands slid down his back as they both straightened to meet each other's eyes.

Ben pulled out of Rey and tucked himself back into his undershorts, pulling up and clasping his pants. He lowered to pick up Rey's underwear and she silently guided her feet through the openings as he slid them back up her toned legs.

Rey slid from the counter to slid her panties up her hips, and lowered her gaze as she smoothed her dress back down her body. Ben focused on her reddened cheeks, the marks on her neck from the night before, her plump lips bruised purplish.

"Rey," Ben said, and she lifted her eyes to his. He held her chin between his thumb and index finger as he searched her warm eyes. "At some point, this war _will_ end," he said resolutely. "We'll see the end of it, together. I'll see to that." He kissed her, allowing his lips to linger on hers as he sent the healing powers of the Force through to her. He felt her lips tremble beneath his as he held the contact. When he leaned away, he saw that the discoloration on her lips had faded, and he looked back into her eyes. "Do you trust me?"

"Yes," she breathed, leaning back to meet his gaze. "Of course I trust you. It's Snoke I can't trust."

"I can't say I trust your pilot friend, either," Ben said with a smirk.

Rey bit back a smile and glanced at the ground. "At least my 'pilot friend' isn't going to kill me."

Ben stared at her a silent moment, not wanting to start another argument; he wanted to part with her on a pleasant note. He leaned in and kissed her again, holding her face with his hand, savoring the feeling of her soft lips on his.

"I need to heal you up before you leave," he said, leaning away, and Rey smiled as he gently lifted her and set her back onto the counter. He brushed her hair behind her shoulders and pressed his lips to one of the bruises on her neck. Closing his eyes, he centered himself with the Force, focusing on his blithe feelings to begin healing the spot.

Rey stroked his hair as he held his mouth to her neck. "Ben, I really am sorry about what I said," Rey began again. "I know I hurt you, it wasn't at all fair of me to attack you like that. Especially since you had to relive that memory in showing it to me...it was so horrible, I can't imagine what it must have been like in reality...I'm glad I can't remember it myself."

A few moments after she'd spoken, Ben opened his eyes and leaned away to see the spot on her neck mostly gone. "Rey, it's okay, don't apologize—I know how you feel. I mean, I literally know, because I feel it, too," he said, smiling faintly as he meting her hazel eyes. "I don't want you to feel upset, or sad, because I _do_ intend to keep my promise." He took her hand and squeezed it. "We _will_ be together."

Rey sighed, giving him a wistful smile.

"That is, unless that pilot steps in. There's no saying what I might do to him…" Ben teased, leaning into her neck to heal another of her bruises. He felt her skin shudder beneath his lips as she laughed softly.

"He's the best pilot in the Order, you know," Rey said, running her hands up his sleeved arms. "And you tortured him once already, didn't you?"

Ben waited a few moments to finish healing her skin before straightening to look her. "That I did…" he said, turning his face to the side. "Now that I recall, he _did_ scream…"

" _Ben,"_ Rey scolded, but when he looked at her she was fighting a smile. "You're a scoundrel." She slid from the countertop and peered up at him. "Sounds like his interrogation went a bit differently than mine," she said, raising an eyebrow.

The corner of Ben's mouth tugged upwards. "Of course it did—I didn't want to hurt you. Do you have any idea how difficult it was for me to compose myself around you then? How hard it still is?" He asked, tilting his head. "When I saw your memories then, your loneliness, how much you missed your parents, I saw myself in you. I knew I'd met my match. And on top of all that, you just _happened_ to be Force-sensitive, as well as the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen."

Rey's cheeks turned rosier. "I had no idea what you were going to do to me then, I was afraid," she said, biting her lip. "But as soon as you took your mask off...well, I recognized immediately how handsome you were. You looked like a prince, from one of my fairytales. But I was still afraid."

"So was I," Ben said, raising his brows. He pressed into her mind his memory of how anxious he'd been about making an impressive first impression with her, how he'd worried about whether she liked his appearance once he'd removed his mask.

Rey laughed and hugged him, settling her face into his chest. Ben hugged her back and kissed her on the head. After a few moments, Ben knew what had to come next. "I think it's time, Rey," he said, leaning away to look down at her. His mouth straightened into a line.

Rey's smiled faded as she stared up at him and sighed. She pulled his face down to hers and they kissed for several minutes. Ben stroked his hands through the length of her silky hair, down the fabric of her dress. He lost himself in the moment completely, his mind hazey with his complete and total adoration of her.

As they parted and slowly slid from each other's arms, Ben stepped backwards from Rey, locking eyes with her. He called his coat into his hand with the Force and turned only to draw down the ship's ramp with a motion of his hand.

Rey's face grew red, and Ben felt her heartache mixing with his at seeing the growing space between them.

"Don't be afraid, Rey," Ben said, lowering his brows and gazing at her fondly.

"I'm not afraid," she said, smiling. He sensed that she felt emboldened. _Return to me soon, Ben._

 _I will._ Ben stopped at the top of the ramp, tears threatening in his eyes as he stared across at her. "I love you, Scavenger."

Rey smiled, but her trembling mouth betrayed the sadness she was hiding. "I love you, you Scoundrel," she returned. After a moment, she flicked her hand, using the Force to gently shove him backwards. "Now get out of here, go see to your crew."

Ben stumbled back a step and smiled at her one long, final moment before turning and walking the last few steps to the ground. He turned and saw the ramp lifting immediately back into place. He sensed in Rey that this was to keep herself from running down after him.

Ben remained in the crowded hangar as he watched her shuttle start up and lift from the ground. It gained speed as it ascended into the lines of air traffic far above. His heart clenched in his chest as her ship soon shrunk into a tiny dot, mixing with the other crafts above. He continued to watch until he could no longer keep track of the dot that was Rey.

He lowered his head and closed his eyes, sulking in place until a man carrying heavy-looking boxes shoved hard into him.

"S- _S'cuse_ me," the man grunted.

Instead of lashing out at the man, Ben merely stood and watched as he passed, struggling to carry the boxes to his ship through the inattentive passersby. Sighing and shaking his head, Ben moved forward to catch up to the man.

"Do you need help with that?"

….

 _Here we go,_ Allan thought to himself as he watched Master Ren board the command ship. He and the other attendants on board pressed themselves flush against the walls as their master passed by, the man's round droid beeping excitedly and following at his feet.

Ren stopped before the attendants, clasping his gloved hands before his chest. "I realize we were on planet longer than expected...I apologize. So let's get going, can you start up the ship?" he requested, nodding towards the pilots. As everyone silently stared at him, he turned and continued on down the main hall with the rolling droid.

Allan and the others stared at each other, taken aback; Master Ren was _always_ in a bad mood when he boarded his ship, especially after battles and meetings with his knights like this one. This time, he wasn't even stomping as he'd come on board. Allan turned towards the other trooper who had been assigned to this mission, WS-4941.

"What's going on?" Allan whispered. WS-4941 shrugged.

"I don't know, AN-838," WS-4941 said in a low voice. "But I bet he's tricking us. Giving us a false sense of security, y'know? And then, when we least expect it— _wham,_ he'll toss someone against the wall with the Force," he said, gesturing his arm in exaggerated imitation of the act.

Allan rubbed his own arm in annoyance at his friend's enactment, still sore from having been forced to battle Ren in a training session. _Training session my ass,_ he thought. It had been a slaughter. Although, admittedly, no one had actually died.

The three pilots nodded as they listened to WS-4941. "I'll bet you're right," one of them said. "Everyone, to your posts. Let's all be sure stay on our guard."

As the crew went back to their assigned stations, Allan remained in place and thought back to when he'd stood guard at the pretty girl's holding cell on the Finalizer— _Rey,_ yes, that had been her name. He hadn't forgotten about her. He also hadn't forgotten how she'd looked at Master Ren.

 _Poor girl must have been brainwashed,_ Allan thought, shaking his head despondently.

He wished he could see the Rey girl again. He thought of her quite often. Especially her story of the stormtrooper named Finn, the one who'd left the Empire when it had been the First Order. Allan hadn't believed the girl's story at first, of course, but he'd later managed to break into computer files in Captain Phasma's office when she'd left it unlocked, and he'd found records of the famous traitor everyone had whispered about, the one known as FN-2187.

 _Perhaps Rey gave him his new name, too,_ Allan thought. _FN. Finn._

FN-2187 was spoken about like a myth amongst the stormtroopers of the Empire. To leave the service of the Empire was treason and punishable by death, everyone knew, so to leave and make it out alive was an unheard-of feat.

 _So why would Finn leave?_ Allan wondered, raising his hand to rub his chin, but it was blocked by his helmet. _And how could a_ traitor _be happy?_

"AN-838, c'mon, let's load up the ramp," WS-4941 said, shoving his sore arm and knocking him abruptly out of his daydream.

Allan grumbled and rubbed his arm, which was hurting now. He just wished everyone would know him as Allan.

* * *

 _Can poor Allan just get a break? Jeez. Just because he's a stormtrooper doesn't mean he doesn't have feelings, too, ugh. At least we know he's okay now after his training with Kylo/Ben. We also know that the story of Finn seems to have inspired and intrigued him, and that he still thinks about Rey. Speaking of whom..._

 _Rey believes that she and Ben are powerful enough to take down Snoke, but Ben disagrees. Is he not confident enough in their abilities? What's that power source that Snoke has on Mustafar? Is our Reylo duo actually strong enough to match this Darth Plagueis?_

 _Aside from all that nonsense, Rey's emotions surrounding the potential of family are fragile, fam. She waited 13 years for her family, just to find out from Maz they're actually dead. That's rough. So I think it's pretty understandable for her to lash out at the potential of losing her one remaining shot at real, solid family. Speaking of which..._

 _Benjamin is determined to avoid both his grandparents' and parents' relationship mistakes. But will he even get the chance to live through the end of the war? Will he be able to keep his promise to Rey?_ _And who was spying on him and his scavenger earlier on Coruscant?_

 _So many questions...*bites fingernails*_


	15. Chapter 14: Love and Friendship

Admiral Thrawn sat alone in his private office, his boots kicked up onto his desk as classical Gatalentan music trilled from a speaker. He'd been having a pleasant morning. A _very_ pleasant morning. That is, until he was interrupted.

He'd gotten up early to oversee the training of an upcoming class of stormtroopers, all of whom had excelled under his exacting training regimen. He prided himself on the fact that his trooper training program was even stricter than General Hux's had been.

Thrawn had respected Hux, that was undoubtedly true. He recognized that Hux had been a stalwart, passionate man, one who had earned a great deal of power over much of the First Order since its birth.

Thrawn himself had taken the occasional job assisting with Hux's former trooper training programs to try and wedge his way into a more important position within the First Order, but as long as Hux had remained, Thrawn's ascension to power had been a slow, steep slope. So once the general had been killed off by none other than his own compeer, Kylo Ren, Thrawn had been more than eager to extend an application to fill the position. From there, his promotion to Grand Admiral had come rather quickly.

While Thrawn had respected Hux, he disliked Kylo Ren, distrusted him even. Ren was a lot younger than himself, younger even than Hux had been, and Thrawn felt that Snoke assigned Ren more power and freedoms than he deserved. He still couldn't get over the fact that Ren was allowed to command stormtrooper factions at whim, let alone govern his own clan of warrior knights.

Even so, he did have to give Ren credit for his murder of Hux, which had resulted in Thrawn's current position of power within the Empire. Hux's murder had not been properly addressed and documented, and it was more than clear that Snoke had made sure that its details were obscured to the other leading officers and generals. Thrawn recognized that Snoke was always covering up Ren's misconducts and mistakes, including the man's extended leave from the Order following the destruction of Starkiller. Even though Thrawn had not worked for the faction during that time, he was bitter that Ren had gone rogue and gotten away with it. He knew that Snoke admired Ren as one would an attack animal, due to the man's supposed strength in the Force, but Thrawn would never have had the patience for such disloyalty, Force-sensitive or not.

Ren's questionable loyalty and brash behavior always kept him on his toes, and he was growing tired of having to keep watch over him. So once Ren had returned from his meeting on Coruscant, he'd decided to double Ren's training regimen with the intention to keep him busy and—expectantly—too drained to do anything foolish before the battle on Storia. He wanted Ren ready and obedient when they took the Organa base at the end of the week.

Inspired by the music trilling from his player, Thrawn was about to crack open a book on the rich history of Gatalentan tea when his office door abruptly swung open. Chagrined, he straightened in his large armchair to stare down the sandy-haired man in black standing before his desk. Thrawn immediately recognized this man as one of Ren's enigmatic knights, but he didn't remember his name. Not that he cared to.

"Grand Admiral, Sir, I'm sorry to barge in on you like this," the knight began, bowing his head and clasping his hands behind his back, "but there is a matter of great importance that needs to be addressed."

Sighing, Thrawn lazily slid his boots from his desk, not bothering to turn off his music player. "Well?"

The knight hesitated. "It's concerning Kylo Ren— _Master_ Ren. It needs to be brought to the attention of the Supreme Leader."

Now Thrawn was interested. He leaned forward over his desk and the knight took a step backwards. _Coward,_ Thrawn thought smugly. "Supreme Leader Snoke is on Mustafar. He's nearly done crafting his project with the Kyber crystals, so I doubt he'll want to hear your drivelling about Ren. But if you truly believe it's worth his attention, you'll need to explain it all to me first."

And the knight did.

….

"I'm surprised you still wanted to train today," Luke said, setting a wooden box next to them in the grass. "I thought you'd be too tired from travel."

Rey shook her head. "No, I feel fine. Great, actually," she said, though she did feel tired; she'd only gotten back to Trora the night before, and she hadn't exactly gotten much sleep on Coruscant. "I would never want to miss a lesson."

"Typical sunshine Rey, always up for a duel in the Force," Luke said, smiling. "But I thought we'd actually do something a little different today." He gestured towards Rey's lightsaber hilt in her hand. "You won't be needing that."

Rey hooked the saber back at the belt of her capris. "Will we be doing any dueling tomorrow, then? I was hoping to get in some practice before the battle on Storia," she said.

Luke shook his head. "You're really going to Storia? First Coruscant, now this?" He scratched the stubble on his chin thoughtfully. "Mm, we can duel some tomorrow. But today we're trying something new." He stooped down to open the lid of the box, and Rey leapt back as a small, tan, winged creature suddenly flew out of it.

"What is _that?"_ She asked, shading her eyes against the sunlight as the animal flapped up into the sky.

" _That_ is a mynock," Luke said, watching it intently. "They're pretty pesky things." Rey watched as Luke extended his arm, aiming his palm up towards it. He closed his eyes for a few moments, concentrating.

Rey looked back up to see the mynock circling and flying back towards them. Her mouth opened in surprise as it glided between them and landed gently back down into the box. "What? How'd you do that?" She questioned.

Luke placed the lid back into place and slid the box towards her. "Today you're going to learn about an ancient Jedi practice: animal friendship," he said, smiling at her with the excitement of a little kid.

"Animal... _friend_ ship?" Rey scoffed. "I'm sorry, but that's the most bizarre thing I have ever heard." She could barely hold back her laugh. "Are you serious?"

"Yes," Luke said, smiling wider. "Quite. Animal friendship is a Light side ability discovered by the very first Jedi. It's a strange practice, I'll admit. I learned about it reading in the journals of the ancient Jedi back at the temple on Ach-To. That is, before you came to convince me to come back to everyone," he said, winking. "But you should know, believe it or not...this practice has the potential to be very useful. I've read many stories telling of how Jedi would call upon all sorts of nasty creatures to attack members of the Sith."

Rey's smile faded and she nodded, remembering the nexus she'd encountered with Ben on Drecenia. She wished she would have known of animal friendship then, so she could have tried it out on them.

"How about you give it a go?" Luke prompted. He instructed her to lift the lid of the box with the Force, and the mynock screeched as it again flapped its way back up into the sky. He guided her through focusing on the creature's mind, teaching her to connect with it through the Force to control its will. But the mynock grew too far away, and Luke had to coax it back several times himself before Rey was able to successfully latch onto its mind and drive it back to the box.

"I did it!" She exclaimed as the mynock finally landed in the small wooden crate, and she dropped down to her knees to place the lid manually. Though she'd initially taken the exercise as a joke, she admitted to herself that it had turned out to be challenging and surprisingly gratifying.

"You did really well. You know, Ben was good at connecting with animals when he was younger," Luke said. "You should ask him about it."

This time Rey couldn't stifle her laugh. "Ben was good at _animal friendship?_ Now _that's_ funny."

Luke smiled as she laughed, but his face grew more serious. "How was he when you saw him, by the way? Ben. Leia told me as soon as you'd left that you were going to Coruscant to meet with him. I would have advised against that trip, but hell, I'm sure that's why you told her about it and not me," he laughed.

"I promise next time I'm leaving the planet I'll tell you both," Rey said. "And Ben, he—he's alright. He's still stubborn about staying with the Empire," she added awkwardly, the argument and concupiscent sex in the transport shuttle coming to mind.

"I see," Luke nodded, rubbing his chin. "That's unfortunate. But I'm sure he has his reasons."

Rey hoped that Luke wasn't going to ask about the details of their trip; she didn't want to have to lie to him on the spot, so she was relieved when he remained quiet for a few moments. Then something popped into her mind. "Luke? There's something Ben showed me—a memory from the past. He wanted me to show it you," she said.

Luke's eyes narrowed slightly and he stepped towards her. "A memory, huh? What's it about?"

"It's actually from the day that...well, the day that he was taken from your Jedi academy. The day that the Padawans…" she trailed, watching him as he nodded somberly. "If you don't want to see it, I can just explain it to you—"

"No, here, show me. I want to see it through his mind," Luke said, moving in front of her.

Rey lifted her hand to his forehead, closing her eyes and concentrating on the memory as Ben had to convey it to her. She replayed the memory as clearly as she could to Luke, and as she did so, this time she did not feel Ben's emotions running through her as they had before, but instead it was now Luke's and her own. She sensed Luke's grief and felt him wince beneath her hand as the images of the stormtroopers and Padawans formed in their minds. Rey skipped some of these parts as best as she could, focusing instead on conveying the feelings Ben had had when he'd shown her the memory, especially the horror he'd felt when he'd killed the Padawan boy.

As the memory finished with Ben being dragged away through the sand, Luke staggered away from Rey's hand and the connection was immediately lost. Luke bent over and rested his hands on his knees, and Rey approached him slowly.

"Are you okay?" Rey asked, and Luke slowly straightened and nodded. "I'm sorry you had to relive that, I know it was hard enough to live through once. I'm very sorry."

Luke's eyes were moist, but no tears escaped down his face. "I'm okay, thank you. I still feel the pain, but that was a long time ago, so I've healed a lot since then. I know why Ben wanted to show that to me, and I'm glad I saw and felt it for myself. I've come to realize over the years that he didn't kill that Padawan on his own; I think that at the time, I just felt so betrayed, it blinded me." He paused for a moment. "So you don't remember any of that for yourself, huh?"

Rey shook her head. "No."

"Not even when I gave you to your parents?"

Rey's mouth shifted as she thought. "No, but I remember them dropping me off on Jakku, handing me over to Unkar Plutt. I guess that's where my memory began."

"Plutt, that nasty junk dealer you told me about? The one who enslaved you?" He asked.

"He didn't enslave me—not really. I learned a lot from him, and he paid me," she said.

"In food rations," Luke chuckled.

"Right." Rey still felt revulsion towards Unkar, but now that he was dead, she reflected more on the skills she'd gotten from him. Without his guidance she wouldn't have lasted a day on Jakku. "He's dead, now," she added.

Luke frowned. "He is?"

Rey paused, wondering how Luke would take her response. "Ben killed him."

"Ben?" Luke scoffed. "Sounds like something 'Kylo Ren' would do," he said, forming air quotes with his fingers. "Something a Dark sider would do." Luke paced a few steps, looking down at the grass before turning and looking back towards her. "You like him a lot, still?" He asked, his tone casual.

Rey was suddenly all too conscious of the tiny diamond tucked carefully under the hem of her tunic. "Yes. I mean…" she shrugged. "We get along well."

Luke considered this, shifting his weight. "I see. So would it be fair to say you two are...mm, how do I put this...serious about one another?" He asked, raising his eyebrows.

Rey thought for a moment, deciding what to tell him, what to reveal. All she ended up saying was "yes."

Luke paced again, clasping his hands behind his back. Rey noticed a slight anxiousness about him. "Now, maybe this is something I should leave to Leia to discuss with you, Rey, but since we're on the topic—I don't mean to pry, you're both adults and this is you two's personal business—I'm not sure how far along you and Ben are, but I just want to make sure that you two are being...you know, safe."

"'Safe?'" Rey repeated. She wasn't exactly sure what he meant by the word. "I mean, we're keeping our relationship under wraps as best we can," she said. "The only ones who really know about it are you and Leia."

Luke hesitated to answer, and was visibly uncomfortable. "No, I know _that_...I'm talking about taking...precautions...to prevent a pregnancy," he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Oh, _oh,"_ Rey said, throwing her hands before her. She shook her head quickly and released a strained laugh. "No we're, uh—Ben and I—we aren't that far along, yet, no," she fibbed, matching his body language.

" _Oh,_ okay, okay," Luke said, releasing a relieved breath. "Phew. Because, y'know, a kid is the _last_ thing we'd want to be dealing with in the middle of this war," he chuckled, "especially a Force-sensitive one."

Rey forced a smile in return, her face growing hot. "Right, oh, of course. No, that—that's definitely _not_ going to happen," she said, but inside she was panicking. Sweat began beading at her hairline. _Stars,_ she thought. _What if I_ do _end up pregnant?_

She'd been so pleasantly lost in intimacy with Ben on Coruscant—and Jakku—that she hadn't even considered the possibility. _How could I have been so naive?_ She chided herself. She wracked her mind, thinking of her body's cycle, estimating when she should expect to bleed next. She knew that would provide an answer to her fears.

"Alright, well, that's good," Luke said, his posturing relaxing. "I'm sorry I had to bring it up, but I'm glad that's covered...Now, I know you think it's boring, but let's work on some Force balancing."

….

After training Rey spent the following hours gardening and thinking hard. Ben had reached out to her, and they'd been communicating for a while about her training that morning and the increase in Ben's training regimen. Though there had been breaks in their mental conversation, Rey couldn't bring herself to broach the topic consuming her mind.

 _I still don't know why Luke taught you about animal friendship,_ Ben said. _It's useless._

 _Luke said the original Jedi used it._ And _he said you were really good at it, too,_ Rey answered, managing a smile as she patted the dirt around some plant stalks.

 _Yeah, so. Maybe I was, once._

 _With what kinds of animals?_

 _Nothing too exciting, unfortunately. I usually only had access to loth-cats._

 _I don't know what those are._

 _I had one as a pet when I was younger. Hux had one too, the same color as his hair. He called it Millicent. Nasty thing,_ he said. _I'll have to show you one sometime._

There was a pause, and Rey looked up towards the sky, taking in a deep breath, willing the courage to shift the conversation.

 _Ben, can we...talk about something?_

 _Anything, Rey,_ he answered without hesitation.

She swiped the dirt off of her pants and shifted her weight on her knees, procrastinating. _I...there's something I hadn't thought much about before_ — _I'm actually shocked I didn't really consider it. I guess I was just too wrapped up in everything, with you…_

 _Rey, what is it?_

 _Well...we've only been together a few times, intimately I mean, but_ _I'm worried about...potentially…getting pregnant._ There was a pause in their connection, and Rey felt as if her heart had risen up to her throat.

 _Oh_ — _that wouldn't happen_ — _shouldn't happen. How could I not have told you? There's a chip that was implanted into my right arm years ago_ — _all of the top officers and generals have them, it prevents that. Sex is generally forbidden among top officials, myself included, but that doesn't mean precautions aren't still taken. I should have thought to tell you all this so you wouldn't have worried_ — _I'm sorry, Rey, I guess I've just never had to worry about it before, so I didn't think of it. That was senseless of me._

Rey felt as if an enormous weight had been lifted from her shoulders, and she let out a long breath. _Don't worry about it, Ben. I was naive not to think about it either,_ she said. _I'm just glad for that chip. Otherwise…_

 _I can't even imagine,_ Ben responded, then paused. _It's hard enough as it is trying to keep this a secret._

Rey shook her head at the plants before her. _I can't imagine either._ She thought for a moment, reflecting on the rainy vision they shared. _I wonder if something like that_ — _if the reveal of our relationship_ _could be the thing to turn my side against me._

 _I don't know..._ Ben said. _With Luke, and my mother, and your friends all supporting you...I don't see a reason why they would ever turn against you. I can't see them ever doing that._ Rey knew he was thinking about the same vision. _The Force can be pretty shifty with visions. They aren't always as they seem._

 _Let's hope,_ Rey said. She rose and headed back into her small house to fix lunch. As she chopped up some vegetables she'd grown herself, her mind wandered. She thought of Ben's dark eyes, shadowed in the dimness of the hotel room, his long, muscular body lined in glowing red light. She closed her eyes, her hand pausing from chopping as she thought of his face between her legs, how he'd kissed her there, how he'd driven her so hard over the edge...

Rey took in a quick breath, composing herself and resuming her chopping. _What are we going to do when we run into each other on Storia?_ She asked.

 _You're not seriously going, are you?_ He asked.

Rey decided to ignore his question, so remarkably similar to Luke's. _We'll just have to pretend we hate each other._

 _Rey..._

 _But we'll have to be convincing. Maybe you should burn me with your lightsaber._

 _I would never do that!_ Ben responded quickly. _If anyone's getting injured between us, it's going to be me._

 _But I've already marked you_ — _several times, now,_ Rey said, thinking of his faint facial and arm scars. _Shouldn't it be my turn?_

 _No. There will be no 'turns.' And I don't mind the scars. Besides, I doubt we'll even see each other there_ — _it will be hectic._ _I have knights and a stormtrooper squadron to command, so I'll be too busy to fight a mere Jedi._

 _But I suspect everyone will be expecting us to fight,_ she said. _It would only be logical to play the part._

 _I don't want to fight...unless we can resolve it the way we did last time._

Rey smiled, thinking again of their encounter in the shuttle earlier the day before. _I would hardly call that 'resolving' anything, you dolt. All it did was make it harder to part from you._

 _But I'm always with you, Rey,_ Ben soothed. _Always. There isn't a moment that goes by that I'm not thinking of you._

Rey smiled to herself as she sat at her small table and began to eat. _And what exactly are you thinking now?_ She probed, slowly tracing her fork over the bowl of vegetables.

 _I'm thinking of what I'd do to you if we were together right now._

Rey bit her lip, her heart thudding in her ears. _Go on._

 _I'm thinking of how I'd love to be buried between your legs, tasting your sweet_ —

"Hey, Rey!"

Rey almost toppled off of her chair as Poe came waltzing into her kitchen. Though she hadn't been able to hear the rest of what Ben had said through her panic, her body was already rippling with heat and energy. She cleared her throat and brushed her hair self-consciously from her face.

"Stars, I didn't mean to scare you, Flygirl!" Poe exclaimed, chuckling. Finn came walking in behind him, smiling broadly.

Rey forced a smile. "Hey, guys, what's up?" She managed, though her voice sounded rather dispirited.

 _Ben, I can't talk right now,_ she thought.

 _Stars, Rey, I didn't mean_ — _sorry if that was too honest._

"So I heard you're joining us on Storia at the end of the week?" Finn asked, excitement shining in his eyes.

 _Ben it wasn't that_ — _believe me_ — _my friends just came to see me._

"I am," Rey said, rising from her seat and smiling wider. "Are you guys all prepared?"

 _Which friends? The pilot?_

Poe slipped his hands into his pant pockets, rocking on his feet as his back straightened. "Yeah, we've been touring around the solar system to get back in the swing of things. We're ready, alright. Those Empire bucketheads won't know what hit 'em."

 _Ben._

 _Love you, Scavenger._

"Yeah, I don't know, we'll see," Finn said, sounding less confident. He rubbed his neck. "We aren't really sure what we're up against this time."

 _And I love you._

"Are you going to be bringing your lightstick?" Poe asked, nodding towards the saber hilt on her hip.

"It's a light _saber,_ " Finn corrected, chuckling. "'Lightstick.' Psssh. Even I know that."

"Well, I _am_ a Jedi," Rey said, tilting her head and shrugging her shoulders. "Really, that's like asking if you two are going to bring x-wing fighters."

Poe chuckled and smiled at her warmly. "Yeah, I guess you're kind of right. What a silly question."

Rey turned to Finn. "How are things with you and Jess?" She asked.

Finn blushed slightly, and Poe elbowed him playfully in the side. "It's going good," he said, biting back a smile.

"Aw, _c'mon_ , just say it. You love her," Poe said, chuckling and elbowing him again.

"Do you?" Rey asked excitedly. Finn blushed a deeper red and hesitated to answer, and Rey and Poe laughed in unison. "Finn!" She exclaimed, and she leapt forward to hug him. "I'm so happy for you!"

"Thanks, Rey," he said, not a small bit embarrassed. His eyes suddenly widened. "Oh, _kriff,_ I was supposed to meet her at her place for lunch—I totally forgot! Bye, guys!" He exclaimed, turning and running out of the house.

"See you later, Finn," Rey called after him. She turned to see that Poe remained standing before her, his eyes focused intently on her. "I'm so happy for them," Rey said, not knowing how to fill the sudden silence.

"Me too," Poe said, smiling. Then, after a minute, "I'm sorry, we've kept you from eating," he said, nodding towards her bowl of vegetables.

"Oh, it's fine," Rey said, waving it off and trying to appear casual. But she felt stiff, uncomfortable under Poe's heavy contact.

"No, no, sit, finish," he said, pulling out a chair at the small table for himself. "There's something else I wanted to say to you."

Rey sat in her chair, looking at him cautiously. "Okay," she said, forcing a quick smile. She took a bite of her food to fill the quietness.

"We all know you're a great pilot," he began, placing his hands before him on the table. "And so I wanted to see if you'd want to fly one of the x-wings when we're on Storia. That way, you wouldn't be stuck fighting on the ground, it would be easier for you. You wouldn't even have to use the Force."

Rey paused her chewing for a moment to think, then swallowed her food. "That sounds exciting...but really, I think I'd be more useful on the ground, fighting alongside Luke and the others."

"You'd be a lot safer up in the air, Rey," Poe said, raising an eyebrow. "And you wouldn't have to worry about running into Kylo Ren."

 _So that's what this is about,_ Rey realized. She sat quietly for a moment as she regarded him. "I'm not worried," she said nonchalantly. "If I cross paths with him, so be it." She shrugged.

Poe didn't seem satisfied with this. "Rey, you belong up in the air, with us, with me, where he can't get to you. You'll have the ability to just fly away if you want to."

"But I don't want to 'just fly away," she said, frowning and resting her hands on the table. Her fingers pressed against the wood as frustration built in her. "I'll stay and fight with the rest of the Organa Order. Besides, I'm just as able to fight as anyone."

"I'm not saying you aren't," Poe said, leaning slightly forward. "What I'm saying is...what I've been _meaning_ to say is that I really care about you, Rey. I hope you know that. I've always had strong feelings for you. I just don't want you out there on the battlefield." He slid his hand gently onto hers.

Rey's breath caught in her throat as she stared down at their hands. Stunned, she felt unable to slide her hand from under his, or to even meet his gaze.

"I understand if you don't want to get involved now, with the war and everything," Poe said, gently squeezing her hand. "But I hope that in time...we can be something more to each other."

Poe slid his hand from hers and stood up, and Rey looked up at him. "Poe…" she began, but at the moment she didn't have the heart to shut him down.

"You don't have to say anything," he said, giving her a small smile. "I'll go now, but I'll leave you with this." He leaned forward and kissed her forehead, then turned and left without glancing behind.

Rey felt her pulse thudding in her throat as she processed what had just happened. She knew Poe had feelings for her, she'd always known, and she'd even expected him to admit it to her at some point or other. But not like this. Not so openly, so abruptly. What surprised her most is that he'd even assumed that she had feelings for him. She wiped at her forehead, as if undoing the kiss that had been placed there. She didn't even want to begin postulating how Ben would react to this scenario.

She stared down at the bowl below her, her appetite now gone. She felt exhausted by the stresses she'd gone through today. She had the desire to talk to a woman like herself, and she knew exactly who to go to to ease her mind.

….

Leia smiled warmly as she led Rey into her living area in her suite inside the base. Rey had Leia's dress and sandals tucked over her arm, and she was about to hand them over when she remembered something.

"Wait a second, let me remove the Force field from the dress," Rey said, closing her eyes and placing a palm above the garment. After a few moments, as she felt the concentration of the Force slipping away, she handed the items to Leia.

"A Force field?" Leia repeated, setting the items on the caf table before them.

"Yes, Ben and I put them onto things around us, so Snoke won't know when we're together," Rey explained. "It's kept us secret from him so far."

"That's smart of you," Leia said, settling down onto the couch across from Rey. They both watched as a small droid rolled into the room and set a tray of steaming tea and cups onto the low table between them. "Would you like some?" Leia asked, leaning forward and filling a cup.

"Yes, thank you," Rey said, and Leia handed her the cup before filling her own. "Thank you for letting me over, I needed some company. Some _girl_ company, I should say." She couldn't push the image of Poe kissing her forehead out of her mind.

"I understand _completely,"_ Leia said, chuckling and sipping her tea. "So, how are things with you and Ben?"

"It's good, everything's...good," Rey said, nodding absently.

Leia tilted her head. "That doesn't sound so convincing. Is he being difficult? I'll have you know he got that trait from his father."

"No," Rey said. "I mean, I still can't convince him to leave the Empire, but you already know that. I guess I was expecting to be able to persuade him to leave this time, but...I was wrong," she said, looking down into her teacup.

Leia sighed and looked around the room. "I trust that he'll return to us when he feels the time is right," she said. "In that, he is different from his father."

Rey felt a pang of sadness for Leia and Ben both, remembering the memories she'd seen in Ben's mind of how Han would leave for long periods of time after fights with Leia. Rey absentmindedly stroked her fingers along the thin chain of her necklace, something that was becoming a habit of hers. It brought her a strange comfort, knowing that it was something that Ben had touched and given to her. She blinked as she became fully aware of the necklace again, and wondered if she should reveal it to Leia. "Ben has to return at some point—He made a promise to me," she said, looking across at the Chancellor.

"To leave the Empire?" Leia asked.

Rey paused. "Actually...he promised that we'd...be married one day," she said, biting her lip.

Leia slapped her hands on her legs. "He _proposed?"_ She asked, her mouth open in surprise.

"Well, not quite—"

" _My_ boy?" Leia exclaimed over her. "We're in the middle of this dreadful war and he's thinking about _marriage?_ Has he lost his head completely? Tell him he's lost his head. Stars…" She trailed, shaking her head in astonishment. "Well, did he give you a ring?" She asked, leaning forward to peer at Rey's hands.

"Well, not exactly," Rey said, looking down and slipping the small diamond from under her shirt. She looked up as Leia scuttled over to her to inspect the necklace. Leia smiled as she gently lifted the diamond with her fingers.

"Ah, so you've been hiding it. This is...so lovely. Simple, elegant. He has good taste. He gets that from me," she said in a self-satisfied manner, releasing the diamond. "Well, he better return soon if he made a promise like that," Leia said, looking down at Rey, her expression softening. "Oh, Sweetheart, let me hug you," she said, and leaned down to wrap Rey in a tight embrace. "I love you as you are now, but of course I'd be even more excited to be able to call you my daughter-in-law."

Rey smiled, but as Leia hugged her she felt a tug in her chest. What if Ben never made it out of the Empire? What if the war lasted beyond their lifetimes? Beyond Leia's? Rey couldn't help but wonder.

"Forgive me for overreacting, but I'm just taken aback," Leia said, rising and seeming to steady herself.

"I was, too," Rey said with a wistful smile.

"I never thought Ben would marry, much less find real love, since he was taken by the Empire," Leia mused. "But ever since I saw into his head when he visited me here, I've known how he loves you, and now it's becoming clear to me how serious this all really is." Leia sat down next to Rey and sighed, leaning against her shoulder. "He has to leave the Empire...it's his destiny."

"I hope you're right," Rey said, taking in the last sip of her tea.

"It's funny, I... _sense_ him through you," Leia said. "It brings me comfort. Your bond must be powerful in the Force. It makes me wonder how strong you two would be if you teamed up in this blasted war."

"I've wondered that too," Rey said, "but Ben will have none of it."

"I know," Leia said quietly. "He's a stubborn one. So much like Han." They were silent for a moments until Leia shifted the conversation. "I heard you'll be joining us on Storia in the next few days," she said, and Rey nodded. "I've been feeling stressed about it...I believe it's the Force. Perhaps it's some sort of omen, or perhaps it's just because I'm worrying too much, I haven't been to a battle in person for a very long time. I really don't know, but I guess we'll just have to face it head on." She paused. "Have you discussed this at all with Ben? Will he be fighting? I don't know how I'm going to cope with seeing him like that..."

"He is fighting. I'm sure he and I will have to face each other at some point," Rey said, looking over at Leia.

"And how are you two planning on playing that out?" Leia chuckled.

Rey chuckled in turn, but her heart wasn't in it. "I don't know," she said. "I guess we'll just have to face it head on," she added. Leia smiled before wrapping an arm around Rey's back and resting her head on her shoulder affectionately.

* * *

 _And the plot thickens...Thanks for reading and commenting! I really appreciate you Padawans._


	16. Chapter 15: Preparation

_This chapter is really short but it was necessary to set up the next one. As compensation I won't make you guys wait half as long for the next chapter! Thanks for being patient (not that you have a choice otherwise haha)._

* * *

Ben was communicating with Rey as he made his way back to his quarters on the Finalizer.

 _How was your training today, Solo?_ She asked.

 _Difficult. Well, not difficult, taking down the troopers is easy. But Thrawn kept me training for five hours._

 _Five hours?_ Rey repeated. _I only ever train with Luke for about two every day. You're going to be sore._

 _I already am now,_ he said, rubbing his arm wrap. _So go easy on me tomorrow, will you?_ He teased.

 _We'll see,_ she said.

Ben focused ahead as Captain Phasma approached him from the end of a long hallway.

"Phasma," he greeted, and stopped when she moved before him.

She removed her glinting chrome helmet and brushed the blonde hair from her eyes. Her damp hair and forehead indicated that she, too, had just come from a training session. "Commander Ren," she greeted stiffly, "Supreme Leader Snoke requests to speak with you in the holo chamber immediately."

"Snoke?" Ben repeated, taken aback. Snoke hadn't communicated with him a long time. He wanted to continue speaking with Rey, and he waved Phasma off. "I'll see to him later," he said, and was about to move around her, but she blocked his way.

"Immediately," she repeated, but Ben noticed a softening in her expression. Was it pity? Her trained gaze indicated that something serious was afoot.

Ben opened his mouth to retort, but instead he held himself back and nodded.

 _Rey, I have to go now,_ he said. _I'm sorry._

 _It's okay, is everything alright?_

 _I hope,_ he returned.

Phasma turned on her heels and began leading him through the massive star destroyer to the holo chamber. Ben moved up to her side, keeping pace with her long, militant strides. His chest began twisting with anxiety. "Is it about Storia?" He asked, lowering his voice as a squadron of troopers hurried past.

"Yes," Phasma said curtly, "but there's something else—I don't know what, but something. Thrawn met with me earlier about it. Just...be prepared."

"That's helpful," Ben snarked, and Phasma shot him a sharp look as they stepped into an elevator. She waited for the mechanical doors to slide shut before responding.

"You know, before you escaped here long ago with that scavenger, Rey, and you told me you'd be back...I didn't imagine it would be like _this,"_ she sighed, turning to look at him. "I thought that you meant you would be returning with the Resistance. _Not_ as Snoke's slave."

Ben scowled. "I couldn't join the Resistance, I still can't," he said defensively. "I'm just a war criminal, a...a _traitor._ They'd sooner behead me than they would see me on their side. And you know that Nodin and Thrawn set me up."

Phasma nodded slowly. "I know. I know," she said, releasing her stiff posture and leaning against the back of the elevator. "But I thought you'd have come to me by now, for help again." She turned and looked at Ben, and he met her focused gaze.

"What are you saying?" He asked, keeping his voice low as the elevator doors slid open to a group of waiting officers. They remained silent as they moved passed the others.

"I'm saying, I managed to get you and the girl out of here. So I don't see how I couldn't do something like that again for you—I'm trusted by Thrawn and all of the officers, they would never suspect me," she said quietly. They were nearing the holo chamber, and they slowed their pace.

"But...why?" Ben asked, looking at her seriously. "Why would you risk everything for _me?"_

"Don't worry, it's not because I'm fond of you," she said, winking and giving him a teasing smile. "But I've grown up alongside you, I've seen all that you've had to go through under Thrawn and Snoke. At least I have my own freedoms—you have none, all because you were born with the power of the Force, something you didn't have a choice in. I think you deserve to end your life in freedom, not in Snoke's shackles."

Ben stopped and stared at her a long moment, taken aback by her sympathetic consideration. "Thank you for understanding, really, but—this is absurd," Ben said, shaking his head. He pressed a hand to his forehead, exasperated. "None of you seem to understand how powerful Snoke has become—what he could do if I went against him."

"You're worried about Rey," Phasma said knowingly.

Ben let out a frustrated breath and began walking again. "Enough of this," he said, waving her off. "It's impossible." He concentrated ahead at the metal doors to the holo chamber, now in sight.

"Those metal interrogation chairs were designed to be impossible to escape," Phasma said, moving up to his side.

Ben stopped and looked around, making sure the troopers down the hall were out of earshot. "I don't see how that's relevant," he said flatly.

"They're _impossible_ to escape. And yet…both you and the girl managed to break out of them. That's never been done before," Phasma's eyes seemed to light up as she stared at him expectantly.

Ben thought for a few moments, then shook his head. "Goodbye, Phasma," he said dismissively, but he slowed and turned over his shoulder as Phasma spoke again.

"If you change your mind…I'll be in the main ship bay all night," she said. She lifted her helmet, but hesitated. Her mouth tightened into a thin line, and her eyes were solemn. "If I had to choose between following Snoke, or you...I'd choose you." She slid on her helmet and strode away, leaving Ben to realize that Phasma really did know what this meeting was all about.

….

"How are you feeling about tomorrow?" Finn asked as they were loading containers of supplies onto a shuttle.

Rey grunted as she lifted a heavy med kit onto a tall stack of boxes. "I'm feeling...ready," she panted.

"This will be your first real battle, won't it?" He asked, swiping the sweat from his forehead with the back of his palm.

Rey shook her head. "Well, my first 'real' battle was with Ben, on Starkiller," She teased.

Finn chuckled and shook his head. "I try to forget about that night," he said, reaching around and touching his back, and Rey winced, remembering how Ben had brutally sliced her friend's spine. "You sure changed your mind about him," Finn added, smiling at her knowingly. Rey didn't answer, and he sat down on a box, turning his gaze to the side. "I didn't really believe Leia when she said your short trip last week was to convey information to one of our bases—I thought you'd given up your senatorial duties," he said, looking back up at her.

Rey bit back a smile. "You're right," she said. "To be truthful, I met up with Ben...When did Leia tell you that?"

"Poe asked about it during a pilots' meeting the other day. He always seems to bring you up at the most random times—that just goes to show how much he likes you, I guess. But don't worry, everyone else believed Leia. _Especially_ Poe—he'd jump into a sarlacc pit if she told him he had to," he chuckled.

"I think anyone would," Rey laughed. "Poe definitely looks to her as a mother."

"Don't we all?" Finn asked. "I mean, she's basically adopted the entire base."

Rey nodded and laughed softly. "That's true. I can't help but feel that it's her way of coping, of trying to fill the gap left from Ben. It's actually really…"

"Sad," Finn answered, nodding seriously. "Look, I don't know where you stand with Ky—Ben, right now, but I'm sorry about the other day—about Poe, I mean. He hatched up this plan to get you two alone so he could confess his feelings, and I didn't know how to get you out of it; I couldn't exactly tell him who else you had feelings for. _If_ you still do, that is," he added, raising his eyebrows.

"I do," Rey answered softly, meeting his eyes. "I really love him, Finn. I know you don't understand, and I don't ever expect you to, considering what he did to you—but I've seen a side of him you haven't. I know the _real_ Ben."

Finn nodded. "No, I believe you, Rey, you don't have to explain. I can't say I understand, but I believe you." He gave her a reassuring smile.

"Thank you, Finn," Rey said, smiling back. They both turned as they heard the footsteps of Poe approaching from the tarmac, juggling several boxes, and they descended the ramp of the shuttle to help him.

"Hey, thanks, guys," Poe said as they each took a box from his arms.

Rey pretended not to notice as he smiled directly at her. "Don't mention it," she grunted as she dropped the box onto a stack.

"That's the last of 'em," Poe said as he dropped a box of blasters into a container. He swiped the palms of his hands together. "So you're going full combat tomorrow, huh? You sure you don't want to fly up in the air with us?" He asked Rey.

"I'll feel safer on the ground, thank you," she said, averting her gaze.

Poe rested a hand on his hip. "If you say so. I hope those buckethead stormtroopers won't be too much trouble for you."

"Excuse me, I'm right here," Finn said, stepping forward and pointing to his own chest.

Poe glanced from Finn to Rey. "If Kylo Ren shows up, he'd better watch out for me—my new x-wing is designed for ground attacks."

Rey furrowed her brows. "I doubt you'd even be able to spot him from where you'll be up in the sky."

"All I have to do is lock my tracker on him, and then..." he said, smiling confidently. He picked up a blaster from the box next to him and pretended to shoot at a target outside of the shuttle. " _Pew-Pew-Pew._ Easy."

"I don't think he'll be that 'easy' to take out," she said, leaning against the wall of the shuttle and folding her arms. "You're underestimating him."

Poe stared at her a moment, his smile fading. "Ren still has his hold on you, doesn't he?" He said, frowning. "Rey, don't you realize how he brainwashed you with his mind-control powers? Why can't you see it? He's not good enough for you. He made you weaker."

"No, he didn't," Rey said, growing defiant, "he made me _stronger."_

Finn stepped in between them and held his hands up. "Look, guys, there's no sense arguing about this, Kylo Ren is just a thing of the past—"

"He will be," Poe said, looking between the two of them. He looked at Rey sympathetically. "Rey, if you see him tomorrow, just stay away from him, alright? Don't let him hurt you anymore. Promise me that."

Rey opened her mouth to speak, but she refused to agree to his promise. "I'm not going to make any promises," she said, pushing away from the wall of the shuttle and moving towards the ramp. She looked back at Poe and Finn over her shoulder before descending to the tarmac. "If I see him in battle tomorrow, I _will_ engage him."

….

"Supreme Leader," Ben swallowed, peering up at Snoke's enormous image from beneath his brows.

"I assume you have sufficiently prepared your Knights for battle," Snoke intoned.

Ben nodded once. "Yes, our meeting on Coruscant—they are prepared," he said, chiding himself for speaking so unevenly. He needed to feign confidence.

"Good," Snoke said, settling back in his seat. "I expect that you will take Storia easily. Without any difficulties."

"Yes, Supreme Leader," Ben said automatically. There was a long pause, and Ben shifted uncomfortably in place as Snoke's eyes remained trained down on him like a stern parent.

"Isn't there something else?" Snoke asked, his voice flat.

Ben opened his mouth, confused. "No, Supreme Leader," he said, shaking his head once.

Snoke's eyes narrowed and his holographic form began to straighten in the chair. "Nothing else?"

Ben's heart raced and his skin felt prickly beneath his dark wraps. _Gods, no._

"Admiral Thrawn informed me that your crew documented you were late on arrival to your shuttle on Coruscant. Do you have anything to say?" Snoke pressed.

Ben's breath caught in his throat. "Surpreme Leader, I—" he began, but he had no reasonable explanation.

"You were seen in the streets with the _scavenger,"_ Snoke declared, leaning forward to glare down at him.

Ben felt as if he couldn't breathe. _Who followed us?_ His mind raced, disgust and anger brewing within him. _Thrawn?_ "Supreme Leader, let me explain—"

"Save your _worthless_ excuses until after tomorrow's battle," Snoke snapped. "This Kenobi has made you weak. You are too much drawn towards the side of the Light. We shall remedy that once and for all. It is your _destiny."_

Ben shook his head slowly, his face pleading. He could not bring himself to speak.

"You have no choice in this, Kylo Ren. After you take Storia, you shall reclaim the girl and bring her to Mustafar," Snoke intoned, leaning ever lower. " _Bring_ _her to me."_

Ben remembered Snoke's same demand when he'd brought Rey to Starkiller Base. Even then Ben had not wanted to bring Rey to the Supreme Leader, and finding her interrogation chair empty had driven him into an enraged panic, fearful that she'd be brought to Snoke by someone else, namely Hux.

"Supreme Leader, she is of no use—The Empire is strong enough without her," Ben said quickly.

"You are correct," Snoke said, and rose up to his full height. "However, she is of use to _us._ It is time your Force bond with the girl fulfilled its true power."

Ben merely stared up at him, confused and shaken.

"I shall be expecting you both tomorrow," Snoke said, and the hologram began to flicker. "But should you choose to disobey, I will have the girl killed before your very eyes. You have my _word."_

* * *

 _Rey doesn't like the thought of Ben getting blasted..._

 _And uh oh. BIG uh oh. Tensions are rising...who snitched on Ben and Rey? What's the real purpose of Ben and Rey's Force bond? And what's Ben going to do_ — _should he try to escape Snoke's clutches or heed the Supreme Leader's warning? He could probably use some advice right about now. Anakin, where are you to counsel your grandson?! Poor lil Ben, he can never escape the Angst_ ™ _I set up for him..._


	17. Chapter 16: Battle of Storia

_Gahh sorry this took longer than expected...I made it a longer chapter to make up for the wait!_

* * *

 _Listen to me, Rey!_

 _Ben, I told you I'm coming to Storia, and that's that,_ Rey answered. _I have the same right to fight as you and Poe._

Ben mashed his palm against his forehead in irritation. _He must have told her to stay out of the fight, too,_ Ben thought to himself angrily. He scowled at the floor as he paced the length of his room on the Finalizer. _Rey, it's different now_ — _Snoke knows about us_ _. He_ _told me to bring you to him_. _You have to stay away._

 _This is it_ — _I_ told _you we have to face Snoke together,_ Rey said. _This is our chance to stop him once and for all._

Ben shook his head, never before having felt so provoked by her stubbornness. _Rey, I told you, we cannot win that fight. If we go against him, he'll kill you._

 _How can you be so sure? We haven't even truly tested our powers together. I mean_ , _just sleeping together seems to have an effect on the Force_ —

 _That's irrelevant,_ Ben snapped, though he admitted to himself that she had a vaild point. Still, he couldn't agree to fight Snoke, the one whose powerful Dark abilities he'd witnessed first-hand. _I'm not arguing about this again. We can't fight Snoke, I'm not going to take that risk. We'll...we'll just find another way._

 _There_ is _no other way, Ben,_ Rey insisted. _I'm coming to Storia and then we'll both go to Snoke. Whatever happens, we'll face it all together._

" _No,_ Rey," Ben hissed aloud. He remembered how Snoke had channeled the Dark side of the force through his own hand when he'd visited his mother in the medical ward on Trora. _You don't know the things he can do_ — _What if he made me hurt you? You'll be in too much danger._

 _You're not being fair,_ she protested. _You once left the First Order, after Starkiller Base was destroyed. Why can't you do it again?_

 _It's different now, Snoke knows he can use you against me,_ Ben said.

 _If we don't face him, you could be stuck with the Empire forever!_

 _Not forever,_ Ben said. _But even if it came down to that...what's most important to me is that you survive, that you're able to live out your life._

 _What? So you_ — _so_ _you're_ _actually considering staying? Do you hear yourself?_

Ben ran a hand through his hair. _Rey, of course I_ hope _for us to be together, happily ever after and all that, but that's all it is: hope. We won't actually make it if we face Snoke. One or both of us isn't making it out of this alive, not if we fight him._

 _My entire life,_ hope _was the only thing that kept me going. Hope is what kept me pushing through to the next day, it's what kept me alive,_ Rey said. _So if we have even the slightest chance of being able to take down Snoke, that's what I'm holding on to._

 _There is no hope for us, then,_ Ben responded sourly, but he regretted his words instantly. The silence felt tense as he waited for Rey to reply.

 _I'm not going to waste my time hoping for us, then, if that's what you think. If you're not willing to stand up to Snoke, it looks like you'll just have to remain his senseless slave,_ she shot back. _I wish you'd never given me the hope of having a future together._

Ben winced. Frustrated and hurt, he punched the wall at his side, leaving an indentation in the hard material. His knuckles stung.

There was a long silence between them. Ben's chest grew more constricted by the second as he continued to pace his room, his fists clenching at his sides. _Rey,_ he probed. _Rey, you have to listen to me._ She did not respond.

Ben hissed and slid his lightsaber from his belt, swiftly igniting it. Unable to control his surging temper, he began slashing at the walls around him, grunting with each hard swing.

After a few minutes, he stood to catch his breath, hissing saber in hand. _How cyclical this all is,_ he thought bitterly as he stared around at the sparking, blood-red gashes in the infrastructure surrounding him. Could this really be how he would live the rest of his life, still alone and afraid?

A distant memory of his father flashed through his mind, a day when his family hadn't been fighting. Han had been laughing as Ben had been learning to lift things with the Force, playfully tossing them at his father to catch.

Had his father died to save him, so he could continue his life like _this?_

Ben disengaged his saber and tossed it aside before collapsing atop his bed, exhausted and spent. As his mind began to settle, he closed his eyes and imagined an alternate future: one where he and Rey lived together, slept together, spent every waking day together. He imagined doing mundane, ordinary things with her like cooking, reading, napping, laying in the sun, tending to Rey's garden. No fighting, no war. No Snoke. It was almost _easy_ for him to imagine these things, as if they too were distant memories...It just all seemed too good to be true.

He reluctantly admitted to himself that Rey could live a life like this without him, but he couldn't bear to think of her ending up with anyone else. No, he was much too selfish for that.

 _Whatever happens, we'll face it all together,_ Rey's words turned over in his mind.

 _Come hell or high water,_ he thought to himself grimly. He opened his eyes and sat up.

He had to talk to Phasma. He needed a new plan of action.

….

It was early in the morning when Rey loaded into a shuttle with Luke and a squadron of ground soldiers. Poe and Finn had taken their x-wings along with the other pilots, and Leia had accompanied another shuttle. Rey's shuttle was relatively quiet, filled only with the nervous chatter of the soldiers sitting across from her and Luke, and she was glad to be alone for a while with her thoughts.

She still hadn't talked to Ben since their argument last night. If she was going to push through the war without forsaking her sanity, she needed to keep believing in the possibility of her and Ben's future. She was fearful that if she and Ben argued again, his nihilism would sever her own hopes completely.

 _Ben can't be right,_ she assured herself, tugging at the thin chain of her necklace. She was mindful to keep the diamond concealed below the hem of her blouse beneath her grey vest. _We have to face Snoke,_ she thought decidedly. _It's the only way...I just_ know _it is._

"You okay?" Luke asked quietly, leaning closer to her on the metal bench.

Rey hadn't known Luke was watching her expressions, and she quickly shrugged. "I'm alright. Just anxious, I guess," she said.

Luke nodded and eyed the soldiers opposite them, making sure none were paying attention to their conversation. "What are you and Ben going to do?" He asked quietly.

Rey shook her head absently. "I don't know," she said, only vaguely aware that he was asking specifically about the upcoming battle. She looked down and twisted her fingers together. "We got into a bit of a fight last night," she admitted.

"A fight?" Luke asked. "You should have saved that for today!" he chuckled, and Rey gave him a spiritless smile. "Sorry, I didn't mean to turn it into a joke. Do you want to talk about it?"

Rey sighed. "Ben just isn't willing to leave the Empire, or go against Snoke. I don't know how...if he'll ever leave…" she trailed. She swallowed, fighting back tears.

Luke shifted his mouth and nodded slowly. "Well, he's been with the First Order-slash-Empire a very long time," he stated. "I don't know much at all about Snoke, but it's clear that he's powerful in the Force. I'm really not sure how Ben stacks up to him. But I am sure that it would take a lot of strength on Ben's part to leave him."

"But Ben and I together...with our Force bond, shouldn't that make us more powerful than any one Force user?" Rey asked.

"I wish I could answer that...I don't know a lot about Force bonds, especially bonds formed forcefully, like how Snoke seemed to have done it," Luke said, scratching the stubble on his chin. "I suspect I have a bond with my sister, but I don't think it's as strong as you and Ben's. We certainly can't communicate telepathically like you two can."

Rey nodded and looked down at her boots. "Right," she said quietly.

Luke patted her arm in an attempt to comfort her. "Don't be sad. I'm sure you and Ben will patch things up somehow. Han and Leia fought _all_ of the time, believe me, but they always still loved each other. You two will figure out something, Sunshine."

Rey forced a smile. "I hope we do."

….

Ben sat on the edge of his bed in his room on his command shuttle as it was steered towards Storia. His knights were on board, but he wasn't in the mood to talk, even though they would reach Storia within the hour. He still couldn't tear his mind from Rey, but he didn't want to argue with her again; no matter how he reasoned with her, he knew that she would still hold to her beliefs.

He wished she would reach out to him all the same.

BB-8 rolled towards him from corner of the room and beeped slowly, tilting its head. It bumped Ben's shins gently, and Ben rested a gloved hand atop the droid's head.

"Can I do it, BB-8?" He asked. "Is this a horrible, stupid idea?"

BB-8 wavered in place and gave a series of encouraging beeps.

Ben sighed. "I hope you're right."

"Commander Ren, five minutes to orbit on Storia," a pilot signalled to him through the commlink in his room.

BB-8 followed at Ben's heels as he made his way through the ship. Ben nodded towards his knights as he passed them in the ship's central chamber, and they followed along behind the droid.

"Pulling into orbit, Sir," a pilot declared as Ben moved into the control room. "Shields are up, they won't be able to detect us while we're here."

The pilots and officers slid aside timidly as Ben stepped up to the control panel. His mind wandered as he stared ahead at the orangish desert planet before them. Had he not known any better, he would have thought that they were in orbit around Jakku. Jakku, where he had first made love to Rey...

"When shall we make our descent, Commander?" An officer asked, bringing Ben back from his reverie.

"Nightfall," Ben said, repeating Thrawn's command. The Admiral had taken another ship to Storia, no doubt to keep away from Ben and his knights, whom it was obvious he hated.

"Visibility will be poor for the unsuspecting base," Nodin said smugly from behind. "I doubt they'll have the nightvision capabilities of our troopers."

 _Unsuspecting,_ Ben repeated in his mind, amused. He wondered how long it would take for the Organa troops from Trora to show up, for Thrawn and the other officers to realize that the enemy had been tipped off by one of their own.

….

The sun was setting on the orange and grey horizon as Rey's shuttle and the others touched down on Storia. The x-wings had all made it to the planet before these larger, slower ships, and they sat empty in neat rows around the landing crafts.

As Rey unloaded behind Luke and the soldiers onto the course, dry earth, she wondered where the Empire troops were. She peered up at the cloudy sky as she followed the others towards the small base ahead. Was Ben still going to fight in this battle? she wondered, and her heart dropped at the thought of not being able to see him, fighting or not.

She tried to push the thought of him from her mind, wanting to instead focus on the battle ahead. She readjusted her grey armguards as she walked, the same ones Leia had given her when she'd first gone to Luke on Ahch-To. She had also strapped her blaster around the pant of her upper thigh, the one that Han had given her. She was glad that she'd kept it all of this time.

As she and the soldiers passed into the open military compound, rain began to sprinkle down from the growing clouds.

"Rain!" A man exclaimed, stepping out of one of the low-tech buildings to her side. "It hasn't rained here for over a year! Can you believe it?" He turned to the men forming around him. Rey smiled at their excitement.

"This is a good sign," another man answered, adjusting the blaster attached at his side. "Hopefully the Empire won't show up and we can actually enjoy it."

"I wouldn't count on it," another said, and Rey saw that it was Poe, stepping out of the same building as the others. He noticed Rey amongst the passing Organa soldiers and waved her over. "Hey, Flygirl! Get over here."

The men around Poe focused on Rey as she approached, and she pretended not to notice their stares. "Shouldn't the Empire have shown up by now?" She asked, looking at Poe.

"Well, the intel that Leia had managed to get about the attack didn't say what _time_ the Empire was attacking, so I don't know," he said. "But maybe they saw all of our x-wings on the way and high-tailed it out of here," he added with a smug grin.

 _Doubtful,_ Rey thought, but she restrained herself from disagreeing with him aloud.

"Where's Leia?" Luke asked, stepping up to Rey's side.

"She's inside here, c'mon," Poe said, turning and motioning for them to follow.

Before Rey stepped through the doorway, a man to the side touched her arm, stopping her.

"You're the Lady Jedi everyone's been talking about, aren't you?" He asked in an accented voice. "Sorry to bother, I just haven't seen a Lady Jedi before. I mean I've read 'bout them, in myths and tales, I just've never seen one. You're beautiful," he added quickly, and the men gathered around him nodded and murmured in agreement. "Lovely," another man commented. Rey hadn't seen any women so far stationed at the base, and she wondered if they were starved of female company.

"We're proud to have you fight with us," another soldier piped in.

"And I'm proud to fight alongside you," Rey said, blushing slightly from embarrassment.

Poe stepped back through the doorway and looked at the men gathered around her. "Hey guys, c'mon, we all know she's pretty, give her some space," he said, and the men began to disperse. Poe gave her a teasing smile and waited for her to enter through the doorway of the structure before following her back inside.

They entered what looked like a small military planning room, where Finn, Leia, Luke, and several officers stood around a table. They were staring down at papers covered in rough marks and drawings. The base didn't seem to have any of the holoscreens and digital planning boards that they had on Trora.

Rey mouthed a "hello" to Finn as she entered, and he smiled brightly back at her.

"Leia, _you're_ not going into battle, right?" Luke was asking jokingly. "I thought you were done with fighting since Endor."

"Does it look like I'm dressed to fight?" She asked, smiling and gesturing down to her long robes. "I'm just need to make sure our plans are in order. Just because I wasn't trained as a Jedi or a pilot doesn't mean I shouldn't do my part here. And who knows, maybe I can try using the Force, too," she chuckled.

"We should go over the plans once more," Finn said, flattening one of the sheets of paper on the table before them.

Suddenly, the ground and walls of the structure shook, and several shouts were heard from outside. Everyone around the table looked at each other with wide eyes.

" _Or_ not," Finn said as everyone began making their way out of the room and into the increasing rain.

"Pilots, to the x-wings, now!" Poe yelled, waving to Finn and the others, and they jogged past him as he remained outside of the planning room.

Rey began following behind Luke, who was moving ahead with a group of soldiers.

"Hold up there, Flygirl," she heard behind her, and she turned to see Poe jogging toward her, refastening the top of his flight suit. He slid to a stop just before her. "Promise me that you're going to make it out of this safe," he said solemnly.

"Only if you promise that you and Finn will be safe, too," she said cautiously, but she felt a wave of compassion for him, for how much he cared about her. "Don't worry about me."

Poe stared at her a moment. "Rey…" he began, searching her eyes. He took her hand in his.

The sounds of the increasing rain grew louder in Rey's ears. She knew what was coming.

"I love you," he blurted, squeezing her hand gently. "I couldn't accept the fact that I could die not having told you that. But you already knew."

"Poe…" Rey began, but she was interrupted by Luke behind them.

"Rey! Let's go!" Luke called, and she glanced back at him over her shoulder. As she turned back to Poe, his hand released from hers and slid to her cheek, pulling her face into his.

Rey sucked in air through her nose, taken aback as he kissed her. The kiss was slow, gentle, but it felt rigid. Rey closed her eyes and felt the cool raindrops trickling from Poe's skin to hers, his damp hand cupping her cheek.

After he pulled away, Rey reopened her eyes dazedly, feeling a bit flushed. But when she did Poe was already jogging away to catch up with the other pilots. She took in a shaking breath and turned to catch up to Luke, who was staring at her intently. She avoided his eyes, sensing that he wanted to ask about what had just happened.

"Ah...well, let's go," Luke said awkwardly, and Rey began following him back through the compound. "Stay close by."

A faint screech sounded in the distance, and Luke motioned for Rey to duck under a roof awning. The ear-piercing shriek of the TIE fighter grew louder, and Rey and Luke pressed themselves against the wall of a building as it soared overhead. The ground shook as the TIE shot at a structure near them.

"Bastards," Luke cursed, ducking out from under the awning and waving Rey along. He led her back towards the entrance of the compound, and through the thin fog that was beginning to form from the rain, Rey could just make out the squadron of Organa soldiers ahead.

The sun had now almost completely set, and the sky had turned a deep blue-grey with the gathered clouds, obscuring vision above.

"This is going to be hard with no light," Luke yelled over his shoulder. "So don't stray too far from the base." As they reached the line of soldiers, they shouldered their way into the middle of the group.

"What's at the front?" Rey asked Luke.

"Lots of empire ships have landed ahead, Lady Jedi," a soldier to her side said, one of the men who lived on the base. "Not good to be on the front lines. Especially in this darkness."

Rey closed her eyes a moment, sensing Ben's presence. Yes, he'd already landed. He was near.

The rain was beginning to pour, and Rey had to shield her eyes with her hand to try and see through the throngs of soldiers. The clouds above began a low thundering, but there was a tense silence amongst the soldiers as they waited for Empire troopers to appear in the empty expanse of night before them. Rey was about to reach out to Ben when one of the men at the front began yelling.

"Blasters up! Stormtroopers ahead!" He called just as several x-wings arced above them and soared towards the Empire troops. The soldiers all around Rey cheered at the sight of the ships and began to move forward and spread out, lifting their blasters and turning off the safety switches. Rey hovered her hand over her blaster in anticipation.

"Be prepared to use your saber too," Luke warned, eyeing her hand over the blaster. He slid out the hilt of his saber from under his coat as they moved along with the soldiers. "Let the Force guide you, always. Remember that it will help protect you."

Rey nodded and they both abruptly slid to a stop with the soldiers around them as a TIE screeched overhead. It shot at the ground near them, and the ensuing screams indicated that it had taken out some of the Organa soldiers.

As the soldiers near the blast fled, Rey's eyes widened as she caught sight of the small, muddy crater left in the blast's wake, leaning no evidence of the men that had once stood there. The men around her cheered as an x-wing soared past, chasing down the TIE. She couldn't understand how they could feel any happiness after having just witnessed _that._

"Rey, stay aware," Luke instructed, encouraging her along, and she turned back towards the front of the squadron. A bolt of lightning flashed in the distance, and in the instant of its flare Rey could finally make out the faint white forms of stormtroopers in the distance.

"Stars, there's a lot of them," she said, unable to mask the fear in her voice.

"There are, but you're _prepared,_ Rey, don't forget your training," Luke heartened, continuing forward. "You're ready for this."

Rey took in a deep breath, feeling the Force surging within her as she ignited her yellow double-bladed saber. She stomped through the forming puddles of mud, gathering her strength and courage as she heard the powerful blast of a TIE in the distance behind her. The sounds of blaster fire ahead were constant now, though muffled by the sounds of rain and thunder.

A stray shot from a stormtrooper's blaster surged towards them, and Luke jumped forward, igniting his blue saber just in time to block it. A blast of lightning struck, closer this time, and Rey again saw the hordes of stormtroopers just ahead, this time mixed with the orange uniforms of the Organa soldiers. A second lightning blast scourged across the clouds, and Rey caught the outline of the two tall wings of Ben's ship in the far distance.

 _Ben,_ she probed tentatively.

Rey's glowing saber cast a faint yellowish light onto the clashing line of troopers and soldiers as she neared them. She watched as Luke suddenly leaped forward to block another blaster shot, and then he was right in the mix of the soldiers.

 _Rey? I'm here,_ Ben responded, and Rey let out a relieved breath to hear him in her mind once again.

Rey saw the blue flashes of Luke's saber ahead as he began slicing through the armor of stormtroopers and parrying their blasts. Willing courage, she sucked in a quick breath and lunged forward, both hands clasped tightly onto her long saber as she held it before her at the ready. Blue blaster bolts surged towards her, and she swiftly spun her saber in a windmilling motion to block each of them.

She gasped as a stormtrooper was suddenly in front of her, his blaster raised, and without thinking she shoved one end of her saber forward, plunging it through his middle.

The trooper immediately dropped his blaster and slumped to the ground as she pulled her saber from his flesh. She stared at the downed man, but only for a moment as she sensed more blaster fire headed her way. She swung her saber again to block the shots, more easily this time, and then leapt to the side, bringing her saber down in a swift overhead motion to come crashing down through the shoulder of another stormtrooper.

 _Where are you, Rey?_ She heard Ben in her mind, but she was too focused on defending herself to formulate a response.

She continued to drive her saber through the troopers that approached her, one by one. She sensed the admiring eyes of the Organa soldiers around her as they watched her, but she felt no enjoyment in killing, rather a robotic numbness, a fight-or-flight response that seemed more instinctual than anything. After just a minutes of fighting, she'd already lost track of how many troopers she'd killed.

She thought of the crater left in the mud from the TIE, and she felt a pang of anger, perhaps a flicker of spite as she downed yet another trooper. The rain grew heavier and the thunder even louder as the battle continued.

 _Use the Force...Use the Dark within you._

Rey frowned and hesitated before swinging at the next impending trooper. _Ben?_ She responded.

 _Rey? Where are you?_ Ben questioned. _I've been sensing you but I can't find you._

 _Maybe that's for the best,_ she answered reluctantly. She had no idea how to act around him in the midst of battle, especially with the eyes of the Organa soldiers on her. _Especially_ , she thought, after what had just happened between her and Poe.

 _No, it's not,_ Ben dissented. _I know you're still upset with me, but I'm coming to find you._

Rey looked around her, searching for a landmark, something to help guide him to her location. Now that the sun had sunk below the horizon, the sky was a deep blue hue, light almost nonexistent save for the flashes of blaster fire and the glow of her own saber in the surrounding darkness.

 _I don't know where I am, I_ —she swiftly swung her saber vertically, blocking a shot aimed at her neck— _I can't even see anything out here._

 _Don't worry_ — _I'll find you. We're going to leave this place._

Rey spun her saber and cut through a stormtrooper just as he was about to fire a blast at an Organa soldier to her side. The soldier nodded at her in relieved thanks.

In a flash of lightning, Rey saw the countless masses of stormtroopers in the distance. With a sinking heart she realized that there were _way_ more troopers than there were Organa soldiers. _I'm not leaving_ _,_ she protested. _I_ _have to help protect the other soldiers!_

 _And I have to protect you,_ he contended.

 _I don't need protecting!_ Rey parried a series of blasts from a group of stormtroopers headed towards her, and she was about to jump forward to attack them when an unmistakable flash of red caught her eye. She grit her teeth and took her frustration out on the troopers, slicing through one's arm with one end of her saber before piercing through one's chest with the other.

 _Yes, use the Darkness within. Feel its power…_

 _Ben?_ Rey asked. _Do you only use the Dark to fight?_ She wiped her soaked hair from her forehead and peered into the distance, looking for the red of Ben's saber. All she saw were throngs of faded orange and white.

 _What?_ He asked. _No_ — _what? Oh, I see you now. I see your lightsaber. Stay where you are!_

 _I'll stay and fight along with Luke and everyone else,_ she affirmed. She saw Ben's saber again, nearer now, and in a flash of lightning she saw him—mask, hood, tabard and all—pushing forward through a group of stormtroopers. He held his crackling saber before him, looming forward like a tall black ghost.

The soldiers around Rey began to back up as they caught sight of Ben moving towards them. They began firing their blasters at him, but to no avail; he parried their every shot with graceful ease.

"Hurry away, Lady!" One of the men urged, tugging at her arm before speeding away through the mud with the others.

Rey stood her ground as Ben approached, keeping her saber poised before her.

"Let me fight. Let me _help_ them," she urged, focusing up on his mask's eye slot in the mixing orangish glow of their sabers.

Ben clicked his mask off with one hand and dropped it into the mud carelessly. His dry, voluminous hair quickly straightened as it was soaked with the heavy rain. "Put your saber away," he said, knocking her weapon gently with his. He frowned when she kept it held before her. He quickly swung back his saber in an attempt to knock hers from her grasp, but she swung hers in time and met his in a sizzling embrace.

"I'm not going to do this," Ben declared over their crossed lightsabers. He slid his saber from hers and lowered it down to his side, leaving himself vulnerable to her. He furrowed his brows and tilted his head slightly as he studied her a moment, as if sensing something off. "What's gotten into you?"

"I'm not going to stand by and watch my soldiers die," Rey declared. "They're all going to die if I don't help. There are three times as many stormtroopers as Organa soldiers, don't you see?"

Ben swiped the rain from his brow and looked hard at her a moment, considering. Rey tried to press into his mind, but his face grew pinched and he blocked her out. He released a heavy breath. "This wasn't part of the plan," he growled, and to Rey's surprise he turned around and began stalking away, carrying his saber before him.

Rey followed behind him as he waltzed up to a stormtrooper with a red shoulder patch. The trooper stumbled backwards a few steps in the mud as he realized his commander was singling out him.

"Pull the division out," Ben commanded. "Contact Captain Phasma."

"S-Sir?" The trooper choked out, no doubt confused and terrified at once. His helmet swivelled between Ben's face and the hissing red saber.

"Pull the division _out_ ," Ben repeated, his voice lowering.

The stormtrooper remained in place. "Commander, Grand Admiral Thrawn has not ordered a retreat—"

"You'll answer to _me,"_ Ben spat, jolting his saber, and the trooper trembled. "Contact Phasma immediately."

" _Yes,_ Commander!" The trooper exclaimed, and immediately spun around. He jogged away, calling to other troopers animatedly as he went.

Ben turned back to Rey. "That's all I can do right now. We need to leave, Thrawn will find out soon," he said, moving towards her. He tugged her arm, urging her to follow alongside him as he began to jog through the mud.

Beaming, Rey disengaged her saber and stumbled several times as her small boots caught in pockets of sinking mud. As they pressed forward, Ben adeptly swung his saber at any approaching blaster fire headed their way. With his free hand, Ben shoved aside stormtroopers and Organa soldiers alike with the Force that stood near, clearing their path.

"Faster, Rey," Ben urged, turning to look at her as she struggled through the mud behind him.

Rey ran as fast as she could through the mud, jumping over puddles and keeping her steps light. But she still lagged behind Ben's large stride. Ben eventually turned around and moved towards her, sweeping her off the ground before not-so-gently slinging her over his shoulder.

"Ben, I can walk!" Rey protested, wriggling her legs and pressing her hands against the backs of Ben's pants as he began carrying her.

"Not fast enough," he said as he picked up a jog. "Sorry, Scavenger."

Rey groaned and stared down at the mud beneath them, her head bobbing with each of his hasty steps. Fat raindrops slid down her cheeks and dripped from her dangling hair, and her face grew hot from the blood collecting in her upside-down head.

After about ten minutes, Rey no longer saw any troopers or soldiers near them, and she assumed that they were now out of the battleground. "Can you put me down now?" She complained, wriggling again.

"Only a short distance left to my shuttle," he said over his shoulder. "Feeling lightheaded?" He teased.

Rey heard the distant screech of a TIE, and Ben's jogging slowed. The screeching gradually grew louder, _nearer._

" _Kriff_ ," Ben cursed, and he slid Rey forward to hold her to his chest with one arm before collapsing forward to the ground with her. He dropped her onto her back in the mud beneath him and hovered atop her. He quickly spread his black tabard over them just as the TIE sounded overhead.

As the sound faded away, Rey lay panting beneath Ben, his face inches above hers. "Camouflage, that was smart," Rey breathed, looking up into his his eyes. They looked black in the shadowy night, illuminated only by the distant glow of Storia's small moon.

Panting, Ben studied her face and swiped the mud from her cheeks with his thumb.

As Rey stared up into his eyes, she shook her head once as if waking from a dream, fully realizing the ramifications of Ben retracting the stormtroopers. As he'd said, Thrawn would be notified of his betrayal, and no doubt would Snoke, eventually.

Ben rose to his knees, but Rey sat up and grabbed onto his arm, keeping him from standing as she got to her own knees.

"Wait...you're leaving the Empire, then?" She asked cautiously. "I mean, for good?" She slid her hand down his arm guard to his gloved palm, and she felt his long fingers bend around hers.

"Yes," he said resolutely, with a nod of his head.

Rey smiled and reached forward to pull his wet face to hers. She kissed him hard, mashing her lips into his. It took Ben a few moments to react before before he released her hand to cup her face and kiss her back.

Rey slid her hand up into his soaked hair, grabbing a wad of it, pulling his face closer into hers. She heard nothing, felt nothing but the warmth of their contact, the sound of their heartbeats intermixing in her ears as their energy connected through their bond.

When she finally pulled away, Ben stared at her with a humorously disoriented expression.

"Let's go," she said with a smile, rising and taking his hand. He got to his feet and followed beside her, enclosing her hand within his.

This time, though, Rey began to move ahead of Ben as she jogged through the thick mud. Her wet, muddied clothes felt heavy and clung to her skin, but strangely they didn't seem to affect her pace as she ran ahead of Ben. As she outpaced him, his hand slid from hers and he slowed to a walk behind her, breathing audibly.

Rey turned to look back at him, sensing his debility. "What, do I have to carry you over _my_ shoulder, now?" She teased, smiling, but her smile faded as she studied his labored movements.

"We're...we're nearly there…" Ben panted, and he abruptly stopped and bent over at the waist, placing his hands on his legs to catch his breath.

Rey moved towards him and put a hand on his arm. "You're injured?" She asked concernedly. "You didn't tell me—"

"No." He shook his head, but he didn't look up at her. "I'm not."

Rey took a step back from him, feeling a strange, searing energy trickling within her, as if spreading through her veins. She held her hands before her, observing them, her fingers tingling. Her heartbeat quickened, and she felt vibrantly alive with the Force, straight through her core. "Huh," she breathed, placing a hand to her chest.

"We need...to go," Ben panted, rising once again. He rubbed his head and moved forward at a walk.

"Ben, you're sure you're not hurt?" She asked, rubbing his arm.

"I'm fine," he insisted, keeping his gaze down and seeming to concentrate on moving through the mud. "Just tired." A flash of lightning struck far away, and Rey saw that his arms hung loosely at his sides, his shoulders slumped. "Nearly there. Almost there," he breathed.

Rey couldn't help but feel that he was reassuring himself, not just her. Something strange had definitely happened between them, but Rey had no idea what. She felt as if her endurance had been renewed two-fold, whereas Ben appeared to be struggling to take each step. Feeling worried, she wrapped her hands around his arm and urged him along.

"This way!" Rey heard the faint yell of a man in the distance. She flipped her head to look over her shoulder, but she couldn't see anyone.

" _Stars,_ " Rey swore under her breath, tugging Ben's arm. He stalked more quickly through the mud with her, but with obvious effort.

"C'mon, c'mon, like you said, almost there," she encouraged, keeping her voice light.

"Hurry, they're this way!" Rey heard the man's voice again.

The faint screech of a TIE sounded, and Rey yanked Ben towards her. As they both lowered to the ground, Ben seemed more than willing to allow himself to collapse atop her in his fatigued state. He rested his head at the base of her neck as the screech of the TIE grew louder, passing overhead and fading again.

"Ben, I can't breathe," Rey choked, pushing his heavy head up.

"Sorry," he groaned, and slowly got up to his knees.

"Seriously, what's happened to you?" Rey asked, rising to her feet. She gripped his arms, helping him back up to his feet.

"I don't…" Ben began to say, and he met her gaze with widening eyes. "Maybe...kriff. _Kriff_. He knows...he already knows!"

"Who? Snoke?" She asked, pulling him along again. In an burst of lightning Rey saw Ben's ship not far ahead. "We're almost there!" She exclaimed, but Ben was struggling to keep up.

Rey heard the sounds of TIEs and x-wings in the distance, but she kept pulling Ben along behind her. She was comforted that there were still Organa pilots in the sky, and she wondered how the base was holding up. Glancing back at Ben, she wondered if his mother was safe, though she knew he would sense if she was hurt.

As the sounds of TIEs and x-wings grew nearer, Ben stopped and looked up at the dark sky. He looked at her, as if sensing something.

"Ben, get down," Rey urged.

The sounds of x-wings and TIE blasts sounded in the sky near them, and they both jolted as shots were fired at the ground, landing closer and closer to them in the mud.

"Rey!" Ben yelled in alarm, and Rey yelped as he knocked himself into her, shoving her aside into the mud.

Lightning flared as Rey scrambled onto her knees to see Ben raising his hands at the ships above to block the succession of nearing blasts—

But the they kept coming.

Rey watched in uncomprehending horror as a blast hit Ben, knocking him clear over backwards into the mud as the TIEs and x-wings continued overhead.

Rey gasped and wiped the mud from her face on the fabric of her arm guards as she scrambled to her feet. She took in big gulps of air. "Ben!" She screamed, her heart catching in her throat as a bolt of lightning struck in the distance, illuminating the long, dark figure on the ground before her.

She sprinted the short distance to him and slid on her knees to his side. She ran her tingling hands over him as he abruptly grabbed onto her arm. "Where are you hurt?" She asked, her voice shaking.

"R-Rey," he sputtered, attempting to lift his head, but he groaned and dropped it back down into the mud with a _splat._

" _No,_ no, you're okay," she assured, scooting closer and lifting his head onto her lap. "Where were you hit?" She hurriedly wiped his hair from his face and ran her hands down his body, feeling for injury. His coat was soaked from the rain, and in the darkness she couldn't tell water from blood.

She nearly growled as she heard the distant voices again of people nearing. She had no idea if they were stormtroopers or members of her own side. Unsure whether Ben had been struck down by a TIE or an x-wing, she didn't know which she dreaded more.

"Ben, show me where, I need to heal you," she pleaded, taking his hand from her arm and placing it into her own. He gripped her hand tightly and slid it towards the side of his stomach. Rey held her breath as he released her hand and she felt the wound through the hole in the fabric of his coat. Ben sucked in a pained breath as she felt the sizeable, slick gash in his skin, much larger than her own hand. She was relieved that the blast hadn't hit him at his center, only seeming to have skimmed his side, but she felt the unmistakable liquid warmth of blood churning through her fingers as she pressed her hand to the laceration.

Rey heard the voices behind them growing nearer, but she knew that she had to heal Ben before he lost too much blood. The nearness of the voices made her chest grow tight with anxious anger. She would do whatever she had to in order to protect Ben.

"Rey, go," Ben groaned, trying to lift himself up again, but she pressed down on his shoulders. _Leave me,_ he repeated in her mind.

"Shh, keep still," she urged, keeping her voice low. She pressed her hand to his wound and closed her eyes, struggling to center her thoughts. Her mind was racing, filled with the infuriating thought that Ben could bleed out right here in the mud, but she focused on the sound of her own heart pulsing in her ears. She felt powerful warmth surge down her arm and through her hand, and Ben gasped in pain as she began healing his wound.

Lightning crackled not far from them, allowing Rey to catch a glimpse of the deep lesion underneath her hand, the thick trails of maroon blood running between her focused fingers. The sight of the gore made her sick with egregious contempt for whoever had shot him, and confusion for why Ben hadn't been able to block the hit.

As lightning struck again, Rey heard more voices. "Look, over there!" Someone called. Rey hissed through her teeth, but she continued healing Ben as his head shifted uneasily in her lap.

"Go, go to the ship," he urged, holding onto her arm weakly as another flash of lightning exposed them.

"I see them!" A voice sounded even closer. "He took her, they're there!"

Rey grit her teeth and turned around, now able to make out the dull orange forms of Organa soldiers. "Leave us alone!" She yelled amidst the low peals of thunder. Animosity brewed within her.

"Get away from him!" A man shouted back.

 _Kill them,_ a voice sounded in her head. _Destroy them while you can_.

Rey carefully slid from under Ben's head and rose to face the oncoming mass soldiers, near enough to be viewed in the dim moonlight. "Turn back!" She yelled, her voice shaking.

 _Kill them!_

The forms loomed forward like orange apparitions. "Move out of the way!" Another man shouted to her. "Get away from that felon!"

"Kill him! Blasters up, get him while he's down!" Another called.

Rey's fists tightened and shook at her sides, her body filling with a fiery heat she'd not quite known before. "Get the hell away from him or I'll make you!" She threatened, raising her palms menacingly. But the throng of soldiers continued forward.

Rey looked down for a moment as she felt Ben grip her calf. He had managed to prop himself on his side.

" _No,_ Rey," he heaved.

Rey shrunk and crouched down as a blaster shot landed in the mud at her side. She growled through her teeth, exasperated at the soldiers continuing towards them, ignoring her threats, aiming their blasters directly at Ben.

 _Now._

Rey rose to her feet, taking a wide stance and splaying her fingers as she aimed her palms at the approaching group. She leaned forward and released a cry as she felt hot, violent energy surging up to her shaking hands, the power of the Force expelling through her palms and out towards the soldiers. The blast swiftly knocked into the soldiers and they concurrently crumpled to the ground.

" _Oh,_ Rey," Ben gasped weakly behind her. " _No…"_

Her chest heaving, Rey slowly lowered her trembling hands and turned them to stare at her palms, the strange tingling sensation beginning to leave her. She suddenly felt weakened, _exhausted._ She dropped down to her knees in the mud, staring at her hands.

What had she _done?_

* * *

 _Oh no...Stay in the grey, Rey! What's going on, and where's Luke?_

 _Who do you think shot Ben-an Organa pilot or one of his own? Why couldn't he defend himself with Le Force?_

 _Poor Ben just wants to be a housewife. He's so done._


	18. Chapter 17: Uncle and Nephew

Rey looked from her shaking palms to the still bodies in the mud ahead. She blinked against the pouring rain as a memory flashed through her mind. She remembered how she and Ben had dropped General Hux in the snow on Drecenia, leaving him to the appetite of the ravenous nexus. She recalled the strange, dark elation she'd felt at his death. How could she have _ever_ been glad about death?

Rey certainly felt no elation at the death now, as she peered ahead at the prone forms of the Organa soldiers. Disgust and nausea welled up in her stomach. She'd just been fighting alongside these men, they'd _trusted_ her, and now... _now_ …

"Rey," Ben called from behind her.

Rey swivelled around to see him lifting himself into a seated position. He looked up at her, his gloved hand extending out towards her, supplicating.

"No!" She exclaimed in alarm, scrambling to her feet. Panting, she staggered away from him, her breath coming in constricted gasps. "Don't touch me—I could hurt you!" She yelled, her voice shaking.

"Rey, come here," Ben heaved, struggling to his feet. He bent over at the waist, keeping a hand pressed to his wound for a few moments. He then rose to his full height, his brows lowering as his eyes met hers. "I feel…"

"Stay where you are," Rey warned. She kept her palms aimed at the ground, unsure of her powers. Unsure of _herself._

"Master Ren!"

Rey swivelled to the side, her mouth dropping open as she saw a group of tall black figures looming forward through the rain, their helmeted heads outlined by the moonlight. _Ben's knights,_ she realized with a shock. _The Knights of Ren._

Ben turned to see his knights, looking equally surprised to see them approaching through the deluge of rain.

"Admiral Thrawn sent us to bring you back," one of the knights announced, stopping at Ben's side. Lightning flashed, and Rey saw the knight's head swivelling between Ben and herself. "Master Ren, you're injured. That Jedi scum—she _attacked_ you!" He exclaimed, jabbing an accusing gloved finger at Rey.

"It wasn't her," Ben countered, his voice firm, but the knight had already begun stomping towards her, seemingly set on his target.

Rey moved backwards, feeling dizzy with nausea and exhaustion as the knight came towards her. In a brilliant crack lightning, she caught a glimpse of Ben punching his wound. As the knight lumbered forward, she stumbled backwards and gasped as her boot caught in a pocket of mud. She fell backwards, the mud splashing as she landed on her back. Rey quickly rolled onto her stomach in an attempt to push herself back up when the light of the moon was suddenly obstructed.

She looked up with a yelp to see the knight standing directly above her, a large metal weapon raised above his head, poised to strike. Rey stared up with wide eyes, frozen, certain that this was it, this was the end as the knight was about to bring the weapon down upon her head.

A _hiss_ and a flaming burst of red suddenly erupted before her, and Rey blinked in bewilderment to see Ben's lightsaber piercing vehemently through the screaming knight's chest. As the crackling saber was retracted, the man's body crumpled to the ground, lifeless.

Rey tore herself from the ground and stared at Ben in disoriented awe, the ends of his black tabard flapping against his legs in the wind. He looked valiant as he lowered his saber to his side, his eyes shifting from the man to her. In that moment Rey felt a surge of love for him, as strong as ever, her breath catching her in throat as she held his eyes for a long moment. As her senses came back to her and she stepped back, fighting to get a hold of her gasping breath as she stared across at him.

" _Rey,"_ Ben implored. He moved towards her, his strides quick and lithe through the mud.

Rey shook her head and staggered away, fearful to trip again but unable to tear her eyes from his. "Ben, get _away_ from me. I—I could _kill_ you!" She warned, her throat twisting.

"You _won't,"_ he asserted, disengaging his saber. He hooked his weapon at his side and ran at her. "Come to me."

Rey spun around to escape, but in her weariness she could barely manage to run through the mud. She was soon encased in Ben's arms, and he slid her to a halt, holding her tightly and pressing her against his front.

Rey wriggled underneath his grip, trying but failing miserably to escape his embrace. "I don't want to hurt you!" She cried.

"You _won't,_ Rey," he urged, squeezing her tighter before turning her around to face him. "Rey, sweetheart, look at me," he pleaded, gripping her arms tightly. "It's okay, it's all over."

Rey couldn't bring herself to meet his gaze. She shut her eyes. "No, Ben, I...I killed them!" she croaked, a sob escaping her.

"No, it was Snoke. _He_ did this, I know it," Ben asserted, tilting her chin up. Rey opened her eyes to meet his. "It's over now, it's okay," he soothed, sliding his gloved hand down the length of her slick hair.

"But _I_ did it, I…" Rey sniffled, shaking her head in hopeless confusion. She was about to continue when Ben cut her off by pressing his mouth to hers.

Rey closed her teary eyes and was filled with warmth from the kiss. It was firm, entreating. Ben's arms grew tighter around her, but she was still shaking, and she found herself able unable to kiss back. She pulled back from his face, another sob wracking her.

"It's okay, I've got you, sweetheart," Ben consoled, pressing a kiss to her forehead. He pulled her into his chest, shielding her from the rain by tucking his head over hers. _Calm your mind, clear your thoughts._

But Rey couldn't fight her racing mind. Seeming to sense this, Ben placed a hand to the side of her forehead. As Rey cried against his chest, a light, sunny glow began to form in her mind.

She felt her heartbeat slow and her skin dry. As the image in her mind came into focus, she let out a gasp. She saw before her a sparkling blue ocean, a serene cove. Slow, calm waves lapped at the shore, the white beach she stood upon sprinkled with all colors of seashells and smooth stones. She looked down to see the soft sand filtering up between her toes, warming the soles of her feet.

Hearing screeching sounds, Rey looked up to see a group of orange birds with long yellow tails flying overhead. The birds circled around a patch of slim green trees, swaying in the mild breeze. Rey took in a deep breath, amazed that she could nearly taste the salt of the ocean air on her tongue.

Rey blinked her eyes open as Ben lowered his hand from her face. Rey was no longer shaking; she felt calmed, still. "The island," she breathed, her heart fluttering. The same island she had had dreams of for years, though she'd never seen the vision so clearly before. It had never before felt so _real._

Ben lowered and kissed her forehead. "Our island," he said, placing a hand against her cheek and searching her eyes. "We have to find it. It's our future...I know it." He seemed about to say something else, but his dark eyes flickered past her, focusing on something.

Rey turned over her shoulder to follow his gaze, Ben keeping her within his snug embrace. Rey saw a tan figure in the distance, and her eyes grew wide with recognition. She tried to call out but found her voice too weak.

She turned back into Ben's chest, her tired knees wobbling. She gripped onto the sides of Ben's tabard for support, feeling woozy. "I...I can't stand…" she stammered, and Ben leaned down to scoop her up into his arms. He held her to his chest, and she tucked her face into his damp, torn cowl, her eyelids feeling impossibly heavy. As her eyes fell shut, her consciousness faded quickly away.

….

Ben cradled Rey tightly against his chest, one arm tucked under her bent knees, the other supporting her shoulders. After everything that had just happened, to say that he was on edge was an understatement, so he attempted to settle his mind as his uncle approached them. He didn't want to have a row with Luke, but he sensed that he was coming to take Rey back.

Ben turned to see his knights approaching gathering behind him, albeit timorously. One of them stepped forward, removing his mask.

"Sir?" Hector Ren prompted, nodding towards Luke.

"Stand down," Ben commanded, looking at all of the knights seriously before turning to face his uncle again.

"Ben," Luke called through the rain as he neared, slowing his pace. He stopped cautiously before his nephew, his eyes scanning Ben's knights before coming to rest on Rey. "Is she hurt? What happened?"

Ben wasn't sure how to answer. "Not exactly. It's a lot to explain and take in," he said, swallowing.

"Trust me, I've seen it _all,_ " Luke drawled. "Including your birth. Don't forget that," he chuckled.

Ben stared blankly back at his uncle, astonished how he managed to keep a sense of humor even in the darkest of circumstances. But he realized that this was Luke's way of attempting to lighten the tension between them.

Luke kept eyeing Ben's knights and wavered in place, only the sound of the pouring rain between them for a few long moments. "These are your infamous Knights of Ren, I take it?" He asked, gesturing towards them.

"Yes," Ben said succinctly.

Luke nodded towards Rey. "Why don't you give her to me, I'll bring her back to Trora," he offered, stepping forward, but he stopped as Ben moved back with equal measure.

"She's coming with me," Ben defended. "She's in too much danger, I need to get her out of here."

"Where are you going to go?" Luke asked, frowning. "Ben, don't let your emotions get in the way of rationality. Just give her to me and she'll be safe."

"No she won't," Ben defended. "Snoke's gotten to her. Do you understand? Even the Order of Organa can't save her now."

"And you and your knights can?" Luke asked skeptically.

Ben scowled. He was at the very last of his patience and energy. "I don't need your derision, or your opinions. You don't know the Dark side like I do, you don't know the extent of Snoke's power. Taking Rey to Trora would just be placing a mouse in a trap."

Luke held his hands before him. "Okay, okay, well, let's think this through—"

"I don't have _time,"_ Ben cut in, backing away. His knights cleared the way as he stepped through them. "If I don't keep her away from all of _this_ —" he gestured an arm vaguely around them—"If I don't get her away from the war, I'll lose her," he asserted. He was about to turn around when Luke spoke again.

"You know, I'm worried about losing _you_ too, kid," Luke called. Ben's heart tugged in his chest. _Kid._ The nickname his father had often used with him. Ben knew that Luke had picked up some of his father's lingo through the long years of their friendship.

"Come with me, just bring Rey and we'll figure this out, together," Luke offered, stepping towards him. "Let me make sure the both of you are safe. The whole fleet of the Order will be behind us, wherever we go."

Ben shook his head. "It's not enough. It would attract too much attention and put everyone in danger, including my mother," he said. He slid back a few steps, shaking his head. "I have to leave," he insisted, looking at his uncle a moment before turning and moving away, his knights following behind.

"Then I'll come with you. I'm not leaving you again," Luke called, following. He shoved his way through the knights and moved up to his nephew's side. "I made that mistake once. I'm not about to lose you again."

"You have to stay with the Order," Ben insisted, glancing at Luke and repositioning Rey against his shoulder. "You need to stay with my mother, to make sure she's safe."

"She would certainly prefer that I made sure _you_ were safe, Ben. And Leia, she'll be fine. She's always managed to get out of sticky situations. Her and your father have always had a knack for that," Luke assured.

Ben opened his mouth to argue but knew that Luke had set his mind. He grunted as he picked up a jog, the wound on his stomach stinging. Luke jogged alongside him as they approached the command shuttle. In a flash of lightning, the ship's enormous wings were illuminated before them like two towering spires.

"Wow, that's...that's something," Luke marveled, slowing and staring up at the craft.

Ben balanced Rey in one arm and waved down the red loading ramp. He ascended into the ship carefully, not wanting to jostle Rey anymore than he had. He glanced behind him, seeing Luke climbing the ramp behind his knights.

"Hector, get us out of here," Ben called as he stepped aboard the ship. The knight nodded and jogged ahead to the control room as the others milled into the ship's center. Ben turned left down the hallway that circled the ship, his soaked boots squelching with each step as he carried Rey to his bedroom. As he waved his room's metal door open, BB-8 came careening out, beeping furiously.

" _Shhh,"_ Ben hushed, and the droid silenced as it saw Rey asleep in his arms. "Sorry, I meant to give you free reign of the ship," he muttered to the droid as he waved the covers down from his bed. BB-8 released a low, curious sound before rolling out of the room and down the hall.

Ben lowered Rey to the bed and balanced her against his arm as he gingerly removed her boots, armguards, and drenched outer clothing, leaving on her undergarments. He then laid her down and pulled the covers over her, tucking them at her sides. He grabbed a glass of water and a towel from near the bed and began gently wiping the dirt from her face and neck.

A soft groan escaped Rey's mouth, and her eyes slowly blinked open. They came to focus dazedly up on him. "Where...where are we?" She rasped as he slid the towel down her cheek.

Ben removed his gloves and placed them on the ground with the water and towel before sitting on the edge of the bed. "We're safe, Rey. Everything's okay," he said.

"Snoke," she breathed, shutting her eyes tight. "I heard him."

A flash of anger coursed through Ben, but he contained himself. "If you hear him again, tell me, but don't listen to him. Just calm your mind, go back to sleep," he whispered, tracing his thumb across her forehead. "You're safe with me."

Gradually, he watched as her body relaxed and sensed her falling back asleep. He admired her peaceful face, running his fingers gently along the length of her soaked hair. He leaned down to kiss her, but rose as he sensed Luke nearing.

He looked up to see his uncle stopping in the doorway of the room, looking between the two of them. He appeared to be fighting back a smile.

Ben rose and moved towards the doorway, glancing back at Rey before turning off the lights. Luke stepped out of the way as Ben stepped through the doorway and slid the door closed.

"I met your, uh, your knights," Luke said as they began walking towards the front of the ship. "I had thought they'd be Force-sensitive, too, but I was wrong."

"One was," Ben said as they entered the central chamber of the ship where the knights had all seated themselves.

"'Was?'"

Ben waited to respond until they were in the control room, only Hector within earshot. "Nodin. You remember him from the Jedi Academy, I'm sure. He became a knight as well, but I killed him, just before you showed up," Ben explained, shifting his gaze to avoid Luke's shocked expression. "He tried to kill Rey."

"Well...that was certainly justified, then," Luke said, resting a hand on his nephew's shoulder. Ben met his uncle's gaze, surprised. "So that's what happened? Is that why she passed out?"

Ben looked away, grinding his jaw for a moment. "No," he said, glancing at the dark clouds through the glass ahead as Hector guided the ship up through the planet's atmosphere. "But that certainly didn't make the situation any easier."

"Tell me what happened to her," Luke pressed.

Ben hesitated, not wanting to think back through what had just taken place. "Snoke got into her mind. He manipulated her into killing some of the Organa soldiers," Ben said, watching as his uncle's eyes widened. "He weakened me first, as if...come to think of it, maybe he transferred my energy into her. I don't really now. But I believe he willed her into using a Dark power, something known as Force Rage...she was just trying to protect me."

"A purely Dark power," Luke said, nodding slowly as he processed what Ben had just told him.

"Yes," Ben said solemnly. "It takes away all of the user's energy afterwards. That's why she fell asleep."

"I had no idea Snoke could do something like that…" Luke admitted, rubbing his chin and looking down for a few moments. "Well, at least Rey's okay." He slid his hand from Ben's shoulder and opened his mouth to speak when his eyes caught on his nephew's torso. His brows furrowed as he leaned down to get a closer look. "Ben, you're injured. _Stars,_ kid, that doesn't look too good," he said, inspecting the wound at his stomach.

"It's fine," Ben said. He'd forgotten about it, though it was still throbbing. He looked down to see the bright-red gash. "The bleeding's stopped, at least," he observed.

"What is this from?" Luke asked, looking back up at him.

"I was shot by a TIE fighter. Or an x-wing, I'm not sure," Ben said absently, wanting to change the subject.

"And you survived it?" Luke marveled, staring at him incredulously. " _Stars,_ you...you could have been blown to bits!" He stepped forward and pulled Ben into an abrupt hug. "We could have lost you."

Ben stood stock-still, taken aback by his uncle's gesture. He felt Luke shaking slightly, and it took him a moment to realize that his uncle was actually crying.

"I'm fine, Uncle," Ben urged.

Luke sniffled. " _All_ of these years, we could have lost you. I never thought I'd hold you in my arms again. But you're here...I've failed you, Ben, but I'm going to keep you safe now."

"You didn't fail me," Ben insisted, shaking his head against his uncle's shoulder.

"But I did. I know that what I did made it easier for you to sink into the Dark side. You felt abandoned by me, your parents…" Luke sniffled again and squeezed him tighter. "Ben, I am so sorry," he cried, his head twisting against his shoulder. "So, so sorry. I'll never forgive myself for leaving you on Tatooine that day." He slowly leaned back and held Ben at arm's length, his face red and damp with tears. "I know there's no way I could make up for all of these years, but I want you to know that I don't blame you for falling to the Dark side. I would have done the same thing in your shoes. I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you when I should have been."

"I don't blame _you,_ either," Ben assured. "I understand. You saw me kill that Padawan, I'd betrayed you. I was a lost cause."

Luke shook his head. "No. You were never a lost cause. Not then, not _now._ It's my fault. Rey showed me your memory, how Snoke controlled you, manipulated you...and it's been going on for all of these years. I see that now, and I should have known it then." He took in a wavering breath, searching Ben's face. "I'm here for you now, whatever you need. I'm going to get you through this, whatever I have to do. You're my _nephew._ I love you, and I always will." He pulled Ben into another hug, and this time Ben hugged him back.

"I love you too, Uncle," Ben said. His shut his eyes as a tear slid down his own face. "Thank you."

" _Erm,_ Master Ren?" Hector addressed from the control board.

Luke and Ben parted, both wiping their eyes as they turned towards the knight. Ben read Hector's mind, seeing that he was waiting for coordinates.

"Just direct us away from here for now," Ben instructed. "We need to get as far away from this system as we can." Hector nodded. Ben turned back to Luke, who was sighing and wiping his eyes on the long sleeve of his tan robe.

"Good thing your mother isn't here to see that nasty gash on you, or she'd just be flying you to the nearest hospital," Luke said, smiling quickly. "On second thought, maybe that's where we should go."

"Rey healed it a bit, I'll be okay," Ben said.

"You should go and rest, at least, I can manage here," Luke said, nodding back towards Hector and the control board.

Ben shook his head. "I need to figure out what to do, where we can go to get out of Snoke's grasp," he said. He'd constructed a Force field around and his ship and on his own lightsaber before the battle, but Snoke had obviously been able to breach the Force fields this time, even though Rey had been well within the vicinity of his saber. It was clear that Snoke was becoming more powerful as time passed.

Luke scratched his chin. "As much as I hate to suggest this right now, I think I know of someone who could give us some sage advice," he said.

"Leia?" Ben asked immediately.

"As much as she'd want to see you, no," Luke said, waiting for Ben to guess again.

Ben wracked his mind. "Maz Kenata," he concluded. He hadn't seen her since he was just a boy, but he still remembered her clearly.

"Yep. Good old Kenata. She and I aren't on the best of terms, I'll admit, but I think she's going to be our best bet to help get us out of this mess."

"What happened between you?" Ben asked, raising an eyebrow.

Luke hesitated, his gaze shifting to the view of space ahead. "Let's just say I may have had her held on Trora after she encouraged Rey...to go off and train with you. Come to think of it, she's probably going to kill me when she sees me."

Ben didn't know that Maz had put Rey up to going after him. But he did know full well that Maz wasn't the type of person to forgive and forget, so he could imagine the grudge she was holding against Luke. "Well, looks like we'll both be in the same boat," he said, cracking a wan smile.

Luke chuckled and shook his head. "Believe it or not, she'd probably prefer to see you over me." Letting out a deep breath, he patted Ben on the shoulder. "Go get some rest now, you need it. You'll have to explain everything to Maz, so it's best to get your energy back."

"I can't, I need to stay here and make sure we aren't being followed," Ben dissented.

"I can do all of that, don't worry. After all _I've_ been through? This'll be a no-brainer. And I'm sure your loyal knights would be happy to help with the ship, right…?" He turned and looked to Hector, who announced his name and gave a nod. "See? Hector agrees," Luke said. Ben frowned at his knight in protest. "Don't worry, kid, I'll wake you up before we get to Maz's. Too much beauty sleep and your hair will probably grow another five inches," Luke chuckled.

Ben looked down and gave a small smile in spite of himself. "At least it isn't an awful Padawan braid," he countered, shooting Luke a smug look before leaving the room.

Ben rinsed off in a refresher before quietly reentering his bedroom. He pulled on a clean shirt and pants and tiptoed over to the bed, sliding underneath the covers next to Rey, who shifted awake.

"Ben?" she breathed, turning towards him.

He rolled onto his side to face her. "I'm here, Love," he assured, brushing his fingers against her warm cheek.

"Where is Luke? I sense him…" She mumbled.

"He's here, on board," he said, tracing his knuckles along her bare arm. "He's coming with us."

Rey was silent for a moment, processing this. "Where are we going?"

"Takodana. We're going to see Maz...hopefully she can help us."

Rey slid her hand over his and pulled it against her chest. Ben felt the warm thud of her heartbeat.

"Ben," she said.

"What is it?" He murmured.

"Thank you," she whispered, squeezing his hand.

"For what?"

"For saving my _life,_ Ben," she said matter-of-factly, turning on her side towards him. "I thought I was going to die when I looked up and saw that knight standing above me. I'd lost all hope. But then you were there, and…" she trailed.

"I'll always be there for you, Rey. _Always,_ " he insisted, his eyes flickering over her face in the dimness.

Rey scooted closer to him, squeezing his hand as she leaned in to bring her lips to his. Ben closed his eyes, flushed with velvety warmth as they slowly kissed. He slipped his hand from hers to wrap it around her, pulling her closer. Rey broke from the kiss to yawn, and she released a breathy laugh as Ben yawned back.

"You should go back to sleep, Scavenger," he whispered, lightly kissing the bridge of her nose.

"Ben," Rey whispered, stroking the side of his face. "I'm afraid."

Ben hesitated to speak, unable to bury his own fear. He knew she was still fearful of Snoke breaking into her mind again. He knew that Snoke's power always came in waves, that he was unable to manipulate victims his for long periods of time. Even so, it was just a matter of time before Snoke broke through to one of them again, considering that he'd been able to breach all of Ben's Force fields get into Rey's mind. As he thought about it, his stomach churned with worry.

"Don't be afraid," he said, trying to sound reassuring. He held Rey snugly against him. "I'm here, Rey. I'll keep you safe." He winced as he thought again of seeing Nodin standing above her, his heavy mallet lifted to strike. He kissed the top of her head as she let out a long breath against his chest. "Go to sleep, I've got you. You're safe."

But even as he said the words, he knew she was not. Despite his dizzying anxiety, as he felt Rey's soft breaths against his neck, he too slowly succumbed to sleep.

….

Thrawn sat alone in the back of the transport shuttle, smoking. He stared at the ranks of stormtroopers lined before him, scowling as he noticed that the shuttle was much emptier than it'd been on the way to Storia. He estimated that nearly half of the total trooper divisions had been lost. _No bother,_ he thought. After all, stormtroopers were expendable, replaceable.

Force users were not.

Stamping out his cigarette on the floor with his boot, he traipsed to the back room of the shuttle to use the comm unit. He'd already contacted Snoke not long before, to inform him of yet another instance of Kylo Ren's disloyalty: the Force user had sent his squadron of troopers back to the loading ships, leaving the rest of the troopers under the impression that the Empire was surrendering. Even Phasma had called back her troops, in the confusion. The whole thing had ended up a pathetic instance of mass-miscommunication, an amateur mistake, which in turn had led to the overall loss of the battle.

 _It_ should _have been easy,_ Thrawn thought bitterly. After all, _he'd_ been the one to lay out the military strategy. The plan had been flawless. But of course Ren had decided to screw it up. And now, _now,_ Thrawn knew, Ren would finally come to pay for his treachery. He knew that Snoke had never planned to keep his apprentice forever.

As Thrawn stepped before the comm unit, he hesitated to turn it on, not wanting to face the wrath of the Supreme Leader. For a split second, he wished he'd never taken this job, that General Hux was still alive to deal and communicate with Snoke. But Thrawn quickly berated himself for his hesitation. He was one of the most celebrated military strategists in the galaxy, and he was _not_ going to allow himself to be cowed by some old, fanatic Force user.

 _They're a dying species, as it is,_ Thrawn thought with growing elation. All of the Force sensitives he'd come into contact with in his life—Snoke, Kylo Ren, the miserable Jedi— had been nothing but a source of needless trouble and annoyance. _Let them die out._ _Good riddance._

As a light flickered on and the signal on the comm unit connected, Thrawn felt sweat beading at his hairline. Was this room hot, or was it just him?

"Admiral Thrawn," a deep, ornery voice addressed.

"Supreme Leader Snoke," Thrawn began, clearing his throat. "It is my duty to inform you that we have not retrieved Kylo Ren. Or his knights, for that matter."

" _Admiral,"_ Snoke's voice rumbled through the comm, "I removed his Force abilities, and you're telling me that you _still_ could not manage to secure him?"

Sweat began to dribble down Thrawn's blue face. "I...yes, that's what I'm telling you, Supreme Leader," he admitted.

"But the _girl,_ the Jedi. You have managed to capture her, at least?" Snoke questioned.

 _Kriff._ "No, Supreme Leader, we'd received mixed reports from the troopers of her sighting, but they were lost in the confusion. A TIE pilot reportedly spotted her with Ren, and he also claimed to have shot Ren, but apparently it wasn't enough."

"It wasn't... _enough,"_ Snoke repeated, drawing out the words. "You're saying the TIE fighter and stormtrooper fleet of the Empire wasn't _enough_ to secure _two_ people, weakened by my own abilities?"

"Well...yes, that is apparently what I'm saying, Supreme Leader," Thrawn managed. He pulled at the collar of his shirt, feeling as if it would blocking his airway.

"Perhaps it is _you_ that is not enough, Admiral," Snoke declared. "Because of your own incompetence, I shall have to take leave from Mustafar. I'll have to deal with your _mistakes_ myself. I expect to see you on the Finalizer in one standard day. _Is that clear?"_

"Crystal, crystal clear, Supreme Leader," Thrawn said quickly, and the comm was immediately shut down from Snoke's side. He scowled at the wall before him. How had Hux and Ren managed to deal with this guy all the time? Perhaps Ren's disloyal attempts at escape were beginning to make sense, after all...

….

Rey awoke to a soft knocking sound. Underneath Ben's arm, she propped herself on her side, staring ahead at the door outlined in the yellowish light of the hallway outside.

Ben removed slid his arm from her to rub his face. "Must be BB-8," he mumbled.

"Mm, I sense Luke," Rey whispered, sliding her feet to the ground.

"How long have we been asleep?" Ben asked, his voice deep and groggy.

"I don't know," Rey mused. "A long time, I think." She pressed a hand to her throbbing forehead, surmising that the pain must have been from Snoke prying into her mind. She winced as the memory of the battle resurfaced, and she tried hard to push the nightmarish thoughts from her mind.

"I only meant to sleep for an hour or two," Ben said, sitting on the edge of the bed and folding his hands in his lap.

"You needed the sleep, babe," Rey said. She turned to peer back at him through the darkness of the room, seeing a drowsy smile on his face. "Are your knights on board, too?" She asked.

Ben nodded. "But they won't hurt you, I promise," he said knowingly. "Don't worry about them."

Rey nodded sleepily and gathered a blanket around her, realizing that she was only in her bra and undershorts. She moved to the door and slid it open halfway. She immediately winced, blinking rapidly against the bright artificial light of the hallway.

"Morning, Sunshine," Luke said.

"Hello, Luke. I'm glad to see you," she said, giving him a small small as her eyes adjusted to the light.

"You look like you tried to go swimming in that mud on Storia," he said, gesturing to her dirt-caked hair.

"Ugh, I really should shower," she admitted, scratching her dirty scalp. She turned around to see Ben standing behind her.

"Looks like the dark knight is awake, too," Luke said.

"Hello," Ben mumbled, swiping his forearm over his face.

Rey realized that Ben had already rinsed off seeing his clean clothes and skin. Lifting her gaze, she saw his dishevelled bed hair and held back a laugh.

"What?" He asked, blinking slowly.

"Nothing," she said, fighting her amused expression.

"We're almost to Takodana, a half hour or so and we should be in orbit," Luke informed them, his gaze focusing on Rey. "I bet Maz will be happy to see you again. _Us_ …" he gestured between Ben and himself, "not so much."

"Thank you for manning the ship, Luke," Ben said sincerely.

"Don't mention it. Your knights were a big help. I had no idea how to use half of those fancy controls," he said.

"Where's the refresher?" Rey asked, turning to Ben.

Ben pointed to their right. "Just down the hall, it's a blue door on the left. I'll bring you some clean clothes."

"Thanks," Rey said, smiling at him and then Luke before making her way down the hall, leaving the other two alone.

"She really does like you," Luke said, his brows raising.

"If you say so," Ben said, folding his arms across his chest as he leaned in the doorway. He looked fondly down the hall where Rey had just left.

"Of course she does. I haven't seen her look at anyone else like that. Her true feelings definitely lie with you," Luke said.

Ben's eyes flickered back to Luke. There was something off about his choice of words. "Her ' _true_ feelings?'" He probed.

Luke hesitated. "Well, as you obviously know, Ben, she is a lovely girl—I mean, you don't expect to be the _only_ one whose attention she's grabbed, I hope," he said.

Ben straightened. "Whose attention, then?" He asked, though he had already assumed the answer.

Luke held his hands before him and shook his head. "Look, kid, all I meant was that there are other men who have feelings for her, that's all. I didn't—" he cut himself off, clearly realizing that he was digging himself into a deeper hole.

Ben's face had grown hot, his skin prickling. "The pilot," he said, his jaw tightening. "What did you see?"

Luke shook his head in warning. "Ben don't you dare break into my—" but he was cut off again, this time by Ben's sudden mind probe. Ben's arm was stretched towards him, his fingers splayed inches from his face. Luke winced and sucked in a breath.

Ben retracted his probe immediately after he'd seen the memory. His chest knotting, he found it hard to breathe. He felt like he'd just been slapped. He turned away from Luke, processing what he'd just seen. He had a sudden sense of déjà vu, hit with the memory from Zephus when Rey had run away from him and into Poe's open arms. This time, it hurt even more.

"Ben, I taught you this when you were little, didn't I? Some things can't be unseen," Luke said, rubbing his own head.

Ben faced his uncle, feeling a pang of remorse. "I'm sorry, Luke," he lamented. "I don't know what came over me. I shouldn't have done that to you."

"You shouldn't have done that to yourself," Luke retorted.

"Can someone please bring me some clothes?" Rey called from down the hall.

"I'll do it," Luke said, eyeing him. He moved forward to pass by Ben into the bedroom, but Ben pressed a hand to his shoulder, stopping him.

"I've got it," Ben said.

"You're sure?" Luke asked seriously.

Ben nodded. "It's fine, I'm not going to bring it up," he said as he turned and began digging out a shirt and lounge pants for Rey from a drawer. "It's not important."

But his mind was racing. He thought he'd already had enough to worry about, but now the scene of the kiss in the rain was replaying over and over in his head. Had Rey enjoyed the kiss? Had her feelings for him begun to fade? Had he overwhelmed her by bringing up marriage? Did she think Poe was better-looking? he panicked, but he kept his expression stoic as he stepped back into the hall with shirt and pants in hand.

"Look, Ben, don't let it worry you," Luke assured, shaking his head. "Like I said—"

"I know," Ben said, walking past him and down the hall.

"I'll meet you in the control room, then," Luke called after him.

Ben hesitated a few moments before knocking on the refresher door, gathering his breath. The door slid halfway open, revealing Rey with a towel tucked around her. Her damp, dark hair cascaded in waves down her bare shoulders.

She smiled as he handed her the clothes. "Thank you," she said, the line of her mouth straightening as she looked up at him. "Are you alright?" She asked gently.

Ben nodded, forcing a small smile. He leaned down and kissed her forehead. "Just a lot of things on my mind right now," he said.

Rey nodded, brushing her hand against his side. "Mine too," she said, searching his eyes. She took his hand and urged him into the refresher, a roomy bathroom for a spacecraft. The door slid closed behind him, leaving them in contained silence.

"How's it feeling?" Rey asked, pulling up the bottom hem of his shirt to inspect his injury.

"S'fine," Ben said, shrugging. The throbbing had gone away. He closed his eyes as Rey pressed a kiss to the wound, warm currents spreading out through his skin at her touch.

"Ben," she began, rising, "why weren't you able to stop it?"

He knew she was referring to the blast. "I felt like my Force powers had been taken away from me," he said, remembering how debilitated he'd begun to feel just before he'd been shot. "I tried to use the Force to block it, but it didn't work. Obviously. But my strength began to return after…" He caught himself, wanting to avoid bringing up Rey's attack on the soldiers. "Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to carry you the rest of the way to the ship."

"And you think it was Snoke?" She asked.

Ben nodded silently, wanting to shift the conversation to her. "What about you? How are you feeling about...everything?" He wanted to give her room to voice her potential concerns with him. "About...us?"

Rey stared at him curiously. "What do you mean, 'about us?'" She asked.

Ben hesitated. "I mean...is this still what you want?"

Rey's brows pinched together. "What are you talking about?" She asked, taking hold of his arm. "Of course I do. You _know_ that, Ben." She paused, her gaze drifting. "It's _me_ I'm unsure about. After yesterday, I don't know how I feel about myself."

"Don't blame yourself, Rey. It wasn't your fault," Ben insisted. "But with all honesty, even if it was...I'd love you all the same," he admitted.

Rey looked up at him with watery eyes, a small smile forming on her lips. She reached up and slid her hand around the back of his neck, pulling his head down to hers in a kiss.

The kiss was more sensual than Ben had been expecting, and it took him a moment to react. He kissed her back gently, hesitantly. Rey leaned into him, her hands sliding through his hair, to his face, his upper arms. Ben's thoughts began to blur with each brush of her mouth.

Rey paused to brush her hair behind her shoulders, unwittingly revealing a delicate silver strand around her neck. Ben felt a jolt of utter surprise; he hadn't expected her to wear the necklace all the time, certainly not during battle. It was in this moment of seeing the necklace that Ben knew that all of his worries about Rey's feelings and the pilot were for naught. Luke was right; whatever potential crush she had on Poe Dameron, her true feelings would always lie with himself.

As if on cue, Rey's eyes flickered up to his, her mouth parted to speak. "I love you, _so_ much," she whispered.

Ben leaned down and pressed his lips into hers, holding her face between his hands. He kissed her firmly, lovingly, his heart pouring through to her. How could he have doubted her? He slid an arm around her lower back, pulling her hips into his and leaning her back over his arm.

Rey released a startled sound. She pulled back from his lips as he held her, his face hovering just above hers. " _Stars,_ Ben," she panted just before he kissed her again.

He pressed her backwards as they kissed, Rey's towel beginning to slip from underneath her arms as she stepped with him. He backed her against the wall, and she released a sigh as his mouth travelled to her warm, still-damp neck. Her towel parted and slid lower, revealing her breasts. Ben slid his hands lower to cup them and he took one into his mouth, savoring it.

" _Oh,_ stars," Rey whimpered, her fingers lacing through his hair. She couldn't seem to stand still.

Ben met her lips again. He began tugging her towel from around her completely, wanting to have her against the wall, his mind and body consumed with eager yearning.

However, to his consternation, he was abruptly shoved away with the Force. Confused and worked up, Ben moved back towards Rey, but she held a hand out in protest, and he stopped.

" _Ben,_ we _can't,"_ she hissed. "Luke and your kriffing _knights_ are on board!"

"They won't hear," he insisted, nodding towards the refresher door. "That thing's soundproof."

"Ben!" Rey whispered. "You know what happens when... _you_ know," she said, throwing her hands up.

"So what?" Ben chuckled, mimicking her hand gesture. "They'll just think we clipped an asteroid or something."

Rey shook her head slowly, but he could see that she was fighting back a smile. "Ben...we _can't,"_ she insisted, gathering her towel back around her. She stared across at him, an amused smile spreading on her blushing face. Her fingers slid along her necklace in a way that appeared flirtatious.

"You're really something, Scavenger," Ben said admiringly, his eyes locking onto hers. He sighed, lowering his gaze and descending back into reality. "I'll leave you to let you dress. I'll meet you in the control room with Luke," he said, raising his eyes as Rey moved forward to kiss him again. They held the kiss for a few moments, Rey cupping her face between her small hands. Ben smiled at her before slipping out of the refresher and heading down the hallway.

He moved into the ship's central chamber, and after giving his knights an acknowledging nod, he frowned and turned around to look behind him down the hallway. He didn't see what he was looking for.

He strode into the control room, his head swivelling around.

"What're you looking for, kid? Lost your shoe?" Luke teased.

"BB-8. He's here, somewhere," Ben said, crouching to peer underneath the control board.

"I haven't seen him," Luke said.

"Sir, Farren Ren notified me that the droid left the ship before takeoff," Hector said, stepping into the room.

"He _left?"_ Ben repeated, staring at the knight blankly.

"Yes, the droid apparently rolled down the ramp just before it was drawn up—there wasn't time to stop it," Hector said.

Why would BB-8 have left so suddenly, without even saying anything? Ben wondered. Where would he have gone?

Then it hit him: the pilot. BB-8 must have known he was on the planet.

Ben shifted his gaze and stepped towards the front window of the ship. The confusion and pain he'd felt at seeing the memory of Poe kissing Rey in the rain resurged. As much as he tried to bury hit, he was struck with a familiar jealousy. He felt as if the pilot were taking his life away from him. He gripped the edge of the control board until his knuckles turned white, staring absently at the green-blue dot of Takodana ahead. _First my mother, then Rey, now BB-8. What next?_

"What is it, Ben?" Luke asked, stepping to his nephew's side.

"Nothing," Ben said, letting out a long breath.

Luke patted his shoulder. "You don't have to keep everything so bottled up. Whatever it is...Everything will work itself out in time. We're all under a lot of stress right now, and I know you're worried about Rey, but...everything's going to be okay."

Ben's brows furrowed as he turned to meet his uncle's gaze. "How would you know?"

"Maybe I'm no Maz Kenata, and I know you think I'm just a crumby old Jedi, but I do know _some_ things," Luke said.

"I don't think that at all," Ben said, settling his breathing. "Luke, I've always looked up to you."

Luke turned his face back to his nephew, his eyes beaming. He pulled Ben into a hug, but after a moment he pulled back and wiped his eyes. "I'm sorry, wow. I don't mean to keep being so maudlin around you," he chuckled. "I've just missed you. We all have."

"I know," Ben said.

Luke smiled back and reached up to muss Ben's hair. "My little nephew," he teased. He lowered his hand and they both turned at the sound of Rey's approaching footsteps.

"I feel so much better now," she said, rubbing her clean arms.

Ben smiled as she approached, eyeing her too-big t-shirt and rolled pants. He remembered the clothes she'd borrowed from him on Zephus, when he'd taken care of her in his hideout house.

"Too bad Ben's clothes are too small for you," Luke teased.

Rey self-consciously tugged the sagging hem of Ben's shirt over her shoulder. "Too bad I have to show up to Maz's like this."

"Too bad Maz is probably going to kick my ass," Ben said, turning around with the other two to face the nearing planet.

"From what I heard, I thought Rey already did that on Starkiller base," Luke said, and Rey failed to hold back a laugh as Ben shot him a disgruntled look.

* * *

 _Looks like we're heading back to Takodana! How's Maz going to react to seeing this new trio? Will she be able to shed some light on Snoke's mysterious powers? Good thing Ben and Rey got some rest, they're going to need all of the energy they can muster in the chapters to come. Will our tortured Reylo pair ever find their island? Thanks for reading and being patient! Next chapter will come out in a few days._


	19. Chapter 18: Return to Takodana

Luke led the way up the path to Maz's enormous reconstructed castle. The trio was silent as they neared the entrance, walking underneath the strings of flags and banners that had survived the destruction of the first castle. All of them had pulled up the hoods of their cloaks in an attempt to conceal their identities from potential Empire spies.

Luke hesitated before the tall double-doors, glancing back at Ben and Rey. "Here goes nothing," he said, and pushed them open.

They stepped into the bustling music-filled cantina, packed with aliens and creatures of all kinds. Rey marveled at the elaborate candelabras hanging from the room's towering ceilings, the miscellaneous decor dotted along on each wall, the wide stage where the band played. She observed that the cantina had doubled in size, at least, and the place was even noisier than she had remembered it being the last time. She turned to Ben, who was wordless, clearly overwhelmed by their rowdy environment.

Following Luke, Ben and Rey began to move forward through rows of congested tables and benches, sliding cautiously around everyone they passed. Rey was well aware of the stares that their hooded forms were attracting, and she avoided eye contact with the beings around her. She felt Ben slide his hand into her own, and for a brief moment their gazes met. His dark eyes were weary.

" _Beeen Solo!"_ The three of them jumped in place as Maz's familiar voice called from the other side of the cantina.

The room quieted, all eyes turning to the cloaked figures near the center of the room. Luke, Rey, and Ben reluctantly lowered their hoods; whatever anonymity they'd hoped to have maintained was now gone.

 _Kriff,_ Ben pressed in Rey's mind. Rey noticed his posture stiffen as the small orange woman came scuttling towards them, balancing a tray of empty glasses in one hand. The creatures around them began turning back to their conversations as if nothing had distracted them in the first place.

"Maz, we're trying _not_ to be noticed, here," Luke said gruffly as she approached.

Maz brusquely set her clinking tray onto a bar and turned towards the three. "Oh, come now, no one else knows that Ben is the same person as Kylo Ren, and there's no one here from the Empire. No one _loyal,_ anyway." Luke pressed his lips together, looking doubtful.

Adjusting her glasses, Maz turned to Ben and made a point to look him up and down.

" _My,_ look at you. It's been so long. Look how _tall_ you've grown. You look a lot like your father," she noted. "Are you a Solo or what?"

"Hello, Maz," Ben said, his face stoic, restrained.

"And Rey," Maz said, turning her attention to her. "The Rey of light. How are you, my dear?" Rey thought she caught Maz glancing down at her and Ben's clasped hands.

"I've...been better," she admitted, giving Maz a weak smile. She glanced up at Ben. "We're in deep trouble, Maz," she said, lowering her voice. "We need your help."

"I know. _Ben,_ you have been a very naughty boy, to say the least," Maz said, narrowing her eyes at him. Ben opened his mouth, but Luke stepped up to his side and spoke.

"My naughty nephew, that's what I call him," he said. Ben looked away and frowned.

Maz straightened, focusing up on Luke. "Nevermind that now. You're not here to discuss that. Let's all go sit—" She abruptly turned, motioning for them to follow. She led them to a table in an alcove at the back of the cantina. The walls surrounding the table muffled the rhythmic music and laughs of the drunken customers in the outer room.

Rey slid next to Ben, Maz taking the place next to Luke across from them. Everyone was quiet for a moment until Luke cleared his throat. "Maz, look, I meant to apologize for how—for what happened, back when Rey took off," he began, but Maz waved him off.

"I sat in a cell for a while, so what?" She shrugged. "We all make mistakes. I know you were just worried about her." Rey looked between the two of them confusedly. "Rey's the only one in my good graces, though," Maz added, glancing at Ben. He hunched slightly under her gaze.

"I'm really sorry about your castle, Maz," Ben said. "It's not what I wanted to happen."

To everyone's surprise, Maz smiled. "Thank you for the apology, Ben, but have you seen this place? It's better than ever," she said, gesturing around her. "The old castle needed a remodel. I should be thanking you."

"Maz, we need help figuring out what to do," Rey said, wanting to get straight to the subject. "Ben left the Empire, and now Snoke's after us."

"How about you start with explaining everything that happened on Trora," Luke suggested.

Rey and Ben exchanged glances, unsure of where to start. Rey spoke up first, telling Maz and Luke how Ben was shot down while they were running to his ship, and how he seemed to weaken while she became stronger. Maz's eyes narrowed as Rey grimly went on to explain how she'd felt the Dark force stir within her as she'd been compelled to kill the group of Organa soldiers. Ben ended the story, explaining how he'd killed one of his knights when the man attempted to kill Rey.

"Where are they now?" Maz asked.

"The knights?" Ben asked. "They're on-planet, watching over my ship. They won't cause any trouble."

"After you killed the knight—that's when I showed up?" Luke asked, and Ben nodded.

"Mm," Maz said, her mouth pinching. She took a few moments to consider what she'd just been told. "I see. And now we are left with the question of Darth Plagueis. The one that they say came back to life." She faced Ben, adjusting her goggle lenses to focus on him. "What do you know of this?"

Ben hesitated. "The only thing I know is that Snoke supposedly came back to life after Palpatine killed him," he said, shaking his head. "I don't understand it."

Luke leaned forward. "Of all the ancient books I've read in the Jedi temples on Ach-To, I've never learned of anyone who'd managed to figure out how to reach immortality. This whole story of Snoke returning from the dead—it has to be a myth."

"Some would have said the very same thing about you," Maz said, giving him a cold look. "This is no myth."

Luke sat back and rubbed his chin, his expression betraying his skepticism.

"Wait. He's immortal?" Rey questioned. How could that be possible? She looked to Ben, who mirrored her mystified look. Perhaps Ben _had_ been right in keeping her from fighting Snoke, she thought. Who knew what other powers he possibly had?

"It seems that way," Maz said, looking to Ben again. "You were right to leave him when you did. As I'm sure you know, his power comes in waves. But I've also felt him grow steadily stronger over time. I sense his power in the Force is nearing its strongest yet."

"I sense it, too," Ben said quietly, his mouth shifting to the side. He frowned and focused on Maz. "But why would his power shift like it does? He only seems to have control of me for short instances of time. And of Rey, apparently."

"Well, you've been with him for many years, perhaps you've noticed a pattern of when his powers change," Maz said, raising an eyebrow.

Ben looked down at the tabletop, taking a moment to think. "He's almost always away from the Empire, on some sort of personal base on Mustafar...That's when I feel him most strongly through the Force. That's when he seems to be able to control me, but I'm not sure why."

Maz leaned back slightly. "Ah," she said, nodding. "Then my hypothesis may be correct."

Rey gave a puzzled look. "What hypothesis?"

"I believe Snoke is hiding some sort of power source on Mustafar," Maz said. "I feel a strong presence in the Force in the direction of that planet. Too strong a presence for just any one Force user like Snoke to give off. He has his reasons for setting up a personal base there."

"What sort of power source are we talking about?" Luke asked.

Maz shrugged. "I'm not sure. You're the one who read through all of the ancient Jedi journals, can you think of anything mentioned in them that could be used to control the Force at large?"

Luke frowned and rubbed the stubble on his chin.

"Wait," Ben said. "Going back to Palpatine...why did he kill Snoke? Do you know, Maz?"

"Suppose Palpatine figured out what Snoke was really up to, that he was planning to kill his student," Maz said. "Speaking of which...do you happen to know what happened to Snoke's other apprentices?"

"They all died in battle," he said.

Maz's mouth formed a tight line. "They did not die in battle. That's just what he told you. What he _wants_ you to think."

"Snoke killed them, then?" Rey asked.

Maz sighed. "It appears so. In each case they seemed to have vanished suddenly, without a trace. I've heard many a story from old Empire workers about Snoke having a high turnover rate with his students."

"It doesn't make sense for him to take on so many students over the years, just to kill them in the end," Ben said. "Why wouldn't he just stick with one?"

"That's simply another piece to this puzzle that we do not yet understand," Maz said. "I believe that Snoke is the reason for why the Force has been dormant for so many years. You, Rey, have personal experience of these effects; I understand that the Force had not truly awoken in you until you came into contact with Ben and he triggered it." She leaned back in her seat and sighed. "Snoke has certainly wrung the galaxy dry of Force users."

"Don't you think that's his end goal, to have no opposition in the Force?" Luke asked.

"It appears so," Maz said.

"So he's after Ben and I because he wants to destroy us?" Rey asked, squeezing Ben's hand underneath the table. A shiver ran through her as she remembered facing Snoke's enormous hologram image on the Finalizer, his booming voice resounding in her head. _Why have only a Skywalker for the Empire when there is also a Kenobi?_

"I believe so, yes," Maz said with a solemn nod. "Although I'm sure the answer is a bit more complex. You two come from two of the most powerful family lines in the galaxy, no doubt you are a great threat to him."

"A threat?" Ben repeated. "We're hardly a threat. Snoke's much more powerful than us in the Force."

Maz narrowed her eyes at him. "I beg to differ."

"What about the Force bond?" Ben pressed, shaking his head. "Snoke forged it between Rey and I. Why?"

"I think it's pretty clear _why,_ " Maz said. "As you just found out on Storia, Snoke can reach her through your bond, through _you._ Forging a bond between you and Rey, from Snoke's perspective, is perhaps killing two birds with one stone."

"Nice analogy," Luke muttered.

"There are many ancient tales of Force bonds, both with the Dark side and the Light. I'm sure you've read all about them," Maz said, nudging Luke. "Bonds forged between masters and students, between siblings, friends, lovers…" she trailed, looking from Ben to Rey. "But there is a lot of evidence out there to support the idea that the strongest Force bond is one based on _love."_

Luke rolled his eyes. "Oh, here we go. _Romantic_ love?"

"Any kind of love," Maz answered. "Of course, romantic love included, but also the platonic love between friends, Jedi masters and students, siblings..." She glanced at Luke again, who nodded. "But different types of love still yield different ways for which to measure the strength of the Force bond." She turned her attention back to Ben and Rey, pressing a hand to her mouth. "Have either of you ever noticed a shift in the Force between you, other than when Snoke has manipulated it? Have you ever felt anything...out of the ordinary?"

Rey made fleeting eye contact with Ben. "Um, no," she said quickly.

Maz narrowed her eyes. Rey's heart began to race, her face growing hot as Maz continued to stare at her expectantly.

 _She knows you're lying,_ Ben pressed into Rey's mind.

 _I know! But we can't say anything_ — _I told Luke we haven't had sex!_ she insisted, squeezing his hand again.

 _What?_ Ben asked. _How would that have even come up in conversation?_

"Ben?" Maz prompted, studying his face. "This is important to know. I need to know how strong the bond is between you and Rey."

Luke's eyes were darting between the two of them. Rey felt like she couldn't breathe.

"Well, whenever we're near each other, the Force generally feels strong between us," Ben said, looking to Rey.

"I think that's just chemistry you're feeling," Maz said with an amused smile. "When would you say the Force feels the _strongest?_ When you've battled each other, laughed together…? I ask because I need to know the nature of your bond."

 _Luke's in for a rude awakening,_ Ben said in Rey's mind, peering at her askance. _We have to tell Maz everything we know so she can help us._

Rey swallowed and gave a faint nod. _You're right._

Ben let out a quick breath, splaying his hands atop the table. "Honestly…" He dropped his gaze to his hands. "The pull of the Force feels the strongest...when we kiss. Well...actually, when we make love," he admitted, his cheeks reddening.

" _Ohh_ kay, I'm checking myself out of this one," Luke said, sliding from his seat. "I didn't expect that to be the answer. I thought you were going to say meditation or something pure."

"Luke—" Rey began to apologize, but he waved her off.

"That's _all_ I needed to know," Maz assured, tugging Luke's arm and urging him to sit. Sighing, he acquiesced. "This is a good thing. A _very_ good thing," she said, a smile crossing her face. "This means that your bond is, indeed, _very_ strong." She reached across the table, extending a hand to both Ben and Rey. Tentatively, they each slid a hand around hers. "If there is any one piece of advice I could give you, it is this: love is stronger than _any other_ _force."_

"Wait, hold on, can we back up a second?" Luke asked, raising a hand like a child in a classroom. He appeared flustered. "How is learning about my nephew's love life relevant to defeating Snoke?"

Maz released Rey and Ben's hands and sat back in her seat. "It's relevant because it indicates to me that together, Ben and Rey are capable of matching Snoke in the Force," Maz said. "To my knowledge, Snoke has never bonded one of his students to another. He may have thought that the bond he formed between you two gave you a weakness, when it may very well be the cause of his own downfall." A faraway look came into her eyes. "This is, I believe, the way we can defeat Snoke—by utilizing the strength of your bond."

"So...where do we go from here?" Ben asked, after a moment of silence.

"The two of you will have to face him," Maz said, patting a hand to the table. " _Fight."_

" _No,_ no, no, that's not going to happen. Not on my watch," Luke said. "Maz, you do realize this isn't just some fairytale? This is _real,_ Snoke is a real danger. He's going to try to kill them, just as you said."

"Try as he might, if Ben and Rey face him together, they will find a way to defeat him," she said.

"How?" Luke countered. "Snoke's been alive even longer than you. Ben and Rey don't have the expertise or the knowledge of the Force to kill him."

"I agree," Ben said.

" _Ben,"_ Rey protested, frowning. She slid her hand from his and pressed it atop the table. "I think that Maz is right. We have to face him. It's the only way."

"And _how_ do you expect them to defeat him?" Luke asked Maz.

She hesitated. "I don't know _how,_ exactly, but…" she closed her eyes, letting out a long breath. "I _know_ they can do it. I _feel_ it. The Force is on their side." Luke rolled his eyes, and Ben and Rey exchanged conflicted looks. "Since when have you become so cynical, Luke?" Maz questioned, opening her eyes. "You've gotten to train with the both of them, I _know_ you know they're up to the task."

Luke seemed about to speak, then shook his head and patted his hands on the tabletop. "Nope," he said. "I'm not just going to deliver them to Snoke, all boxed up and nice with a bow on top. Nope. I'm taking them far away, someplace Snoke will never find them." He rose from the table, and the others did the same.

"And then what, Skywalker? Leave them to spend their days on that isolated rock of an island, same as you did?" she mocked.

Luke seemed to consider this for a moment. "Actually," he said, "that's exactly what I'm going to do." He made his way back into the cantina. "Come on, you two," he called to Ben and Rey.

"Wait!" Rey called, rising from the table.

"Rey, I think Luke's right," Ben said, following her. He gripped her arm. "Rey, we need to go somewhere safe."

Rey pulled her arm from Ben's and followed Luke and Maz back through the double-doors leading to the outside.

"Nowhere is safe from someone so powerful in the Force, not for long," Maz declared, stepping up to Luke. "You know this, Luke. You can't hide forever. One day, they are going to have to face Snoke and decide the fate of the galaxy." She adjusted the lenses of her goggles. "Your eyes, they aren't the ones of the famed Luke Skywalker that I know. The one who destroyed a Death Star and found redemption in Vader himself. I'm looking into the eyes of a man who has abandoned his faith in the Force."

Luke was silent a few moments before speaking. "By going to Ach-To we can at least buy ourselves some more time to think things over."

"What about your Jedi journals, Luke?" Rey asked, folding her arms. "Isn't there anything in those that can help us?"

"Rey may be right," Maz said, raising her brows. "Perhaps there will be information that will prove useful. Maybe you can get an idea about what Snoke is using as his power source." She straightened and gestured away from the castle. "You all should be on your way. It's best not to stay in a public place like this for long."

"Thank you for all of your help, Maz," Rey said.

"Anytime. I only wish I was able to help you more. Now, why don't you and Ben head back to the ship, I need to talk to Luke for a moment," she said. Rey nodded and turned down the path with Ben.

"Go ahead and start up the ship, guys," Luke called after them. He crouched down to Maz's eye level. "What is it, now?"

"This will be their greatest challenge yet," she said, searching his eyes. "Yours too, Skywalker. You have to protect them by any means necessary."

"Of course I will, Maz," Luke said, furrowing his brows. "I love them like they're my own kids."

"They are the only known remaining Force-sensitives in the galaxy. The only _young_ ones remaining, I should say," she said, raising an eyebrow. "If they die, after you and Leia have gone, only Snoke will remain. Then, the Dark side of the Force will prevail. Without Ben and Rey, the line of Force-sensitives cannot be replenished."

"And to think I just had 'the talk' with Rey not too long ago," Luke chuckled, but he stopped as Maz gripped his arm with her small hand.

"Pay attention to me, Skywalker. The fate of the galaxy lies with them. The very _balance_ of the Force," she said, and let out a sigh. "I didn't want to have to say this, but it's best that you prepare yourself for all possible outcomes. If the situation arises where you cannot save both of them, choose one. The bloodline of the Light side of the Force can still live through one."

Luke scowled. "Maz, you _know_ I could never _choose,"_ he asserted, shaking his head. "That's absurd."

"If it comes down to it, you _must_ choose," she pressed, shaking his arm. She held his gaze before releasing hold of him and turning back towards the castle. "May the Force be with you, and them," she called over her shoulder. "You'll need it."

Luke slowly rose from his crouch with a heavy heart. He had a bad feeling that Maz had an idea of what they were about to face.

….

As they passed by the lush green forest on the way to the ship, Ben snuck several cautious glances at Rey. Luke had yet to catch up to them. "Are you upset with me?" he asked.

She shook her head, keeping her eyes on the ground. "No," she said.

"You seem upset."

"Why don't you just read my mind, then, and figure it out for yourself?" she snapped. She let out a sigh, folding her arms over her chest. "I'm sorry, I just...I'm still upset over everything that happened yesterday, and—I'm just really stressed. Don't take it personally."

Ben rubbed her shoulder. "It'll be okay, alright? We're going to pull through this...somehow."

"Oh, so now you believe in us?"

"It's not that I don't believe in us, Rey, it's that I know how strong Snoke is. We're strong together in the Force, I _know_ we are, we just…we've never really tested out our powers together. We can't fight Snoke and just wing it."

"Then we can practice," she said.

Ben's mind raced, thinking of a way to change the subject and lift Rey's spirits. "You remember when we first met in these woods?" he asked, slowing to a stop.

Rey turned and faced him, lowering a hand to her hip. "Are you stupid? How could I not? You were kriffing _terrifying."_

Ben let out a low laugh. "Right away I knew you were the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen," he said. "I think it was love at first sight. Even though you _were_ trying to kill me."

"For good reason!" she exclaimed. "You came creeping out of those rocks with your lightsaber like a monster!" She imitated the way he'd slashed through the air with his saber.

 _Monster._ The word coming from her lips was all too familiar to him, but it no longer bothered him. "I was just protecting myself from your blasts. And, maybe...maybe I wanted to impress you," he admitted, glancing at her coyly.

"Well, you probing my mind sure didn't _impress_ me," she countered, stepping towards him. "It hurt."

"I'm sorry," he said. She stopped just before him and he brushed her hair from her face. "I can't excuse my monstrous behaviour. I'll admit I was brash. I wasn't really thinking, I...I just had to know everything about you."

Rey's eyes narrowed a moment. "You know what I always wondered?" she asked.

He tilted his head. "Hmm?"

"In the forest, when you put me to sleep—whatever you call that trick—I thought I felt your arms beneath me. Did you pick me up?" she asked.

"I carried you all the way to my ship," he said, smiling. "Like this." Rey giggled as he quickly scooped her up into his arms, holding her bridal style.

"Kylo Ren wouldn't do that," she insisted.

"I did," he insisted, carrying her down the path.

"In the middle of battle?" she pressed, reaching up to poke his cheek playfully.

"In the middle of battle," he returned, looking down at her. "And I was so anxious for you to wake when you were still asleep in the interrogation room. It felt like years before you finally woke up."

"I remember seeing you right in front of me when I first woke up," she said, blinking. "Were you...were you watching me sleep?"

"I was just admiring your beauty," he defended. He smiled and closed his eyes a moment, his cheeks growing warm as Rey lifted to plant a kiss on his neck. But his light hearted feelings began to darken as he spotted the black wings of his ship ahead. Rey remained silent as he carried her the rest of the way to the waiting shuttle.

….

As Luke and Rey stood in the control room of the command shuttle, guiding it up through Takodana's atmosphere, Ben conferred with his knights in the central chamber.

"They're an odd bunch, those knights," Luke commented. "What do you think Ben's telling them?"

"He said that he was just going to explain to them our plan to go to Ach-To," Rey answered. She studied Luke as he managed the ship's controls, hesitant to bring up the topic that had arisen at Maz's. "Luke?"

"Uh huh," he said, his attention focused through the window ahead.

"I just...I'm sorry I lied to you. About Ben and I."

Luke turned in his chair to face her. "Oh, don't worry about that, Rey," he said, shaking his head. "I don't care. I mean, I'll be having a talk with Ben, no doubt, but...Really, I should have assumed anyway. I forget how old you two actually are. When I look at you, I still see tiny Rey Kenobi from the Jedi academy. And when I look at Ben, well…" his gaze drifted away, lost for a moment in memory. A smile formed on his face. "When I look at him, I still see my tiny baby nephew cradled in my arms."

Rey smiled at Luke, warmed by his love for his nephew.

"I remember how much trouble Leia and Han had with him because of his Force sensitivity," Luke continued, chuckling. "He figured out his powers really early on. He was a handful. He'd toss his rattle and stuffed animals from his crib without ever touching them. And when he learned to walk, he'd hurl all sorts of things at his parents and me. I'm talking heavy things. Apparently he thought it was funny, he was little and didn't know any better. He'd leave messes _everywhere._ I don't think my poor sister ever had a clean house on Hosnian Prime."

They both abruptly turned as Ben strode back into the control room. "What are you talking about?" Ben asked, resting a hand on Luke's chair.

"Luke was just telling me about how you were as a baby," Rey giggled.

Ben frowned at Luke, who smiled back. "I thought she ought to know what a troublemaker you were," he said. "That obviously carried through to adulthood."

Ben sighed. As he turned his gaze to Rey, his eyes softened. Rey stepped closer to him and leaned against his arm.

As the ship pulled out of Takodana's orbit, Luke adjusted the switches on the control screens. "Alright, Ach-To or bust," he announced. Ben wrapped his arm around Rey's shoulders, the stars before them appearing to stretch and lengthen as they made the leap into hyperspace.

* * *

 _I realize last time I'd told you that this chapter would come out in a "few days," and, well, that obviously didn't end up happening. SO this time I'm not going to predict any time frame for when the next chapter will come, but I will do my best to make it timely. Granted I'm not able to devote much time to fic writing anymore but I don't want the quality of this story to be affected because of that, not after I've kept up with this dang thing for so long! Anyways, back to said story...We're on the home stretch now._

 _What do you make of Maz's opinions? What do you think really happened to Snokes' former apprentices?_

 _I just had to put Rey and Ben in the hot seat when Maz was questioning them. Sorry, I couldn't resist._

 _Do you think_ _Rey & Ben are both going to make it out of all of this a-okay? Or will Luke have to "choose," like Maz said? _

_Will the Jedi Journals clear up anything more about Snoke, or will the trio remain in the dark about his mysterious plotting?_

 _If you can't tell I enjoy coming up with Book Club-type questions._

 _Again, thank you all so so much for the feedback, I value all of your responses and love hearing your perspectives/reactions on what goes down in this melodramatic little fic of ours. I wish this site allowed me to respond to each of you individually in the comment section, but alas, so here I am giving you all a collective thank-you for the follows and responses. Fingers crossed the next chapter comes out relatively soon._


	20. Chapter 20: Ach-To

"Ben, can you give me access to the HoloNet?" Luke asked, swivelling his chair to face his nephew. "I need to contact Leia."

"I turned the communicator off so our signal can't be tracked," Ben said, leaning against the control board. He glanced out at the passing streaks of stars as they sped through hyperspace, considering the risk of turning the HoloNet back on. Surely no one from the Empire would be able to scan their signal from this far away. Hopefully. He gave his uncle a reluctant nod. "Alright," he said. "But be brief." He turned to leave and find Rey, who had just left the room, but Luke spoke up.

"Your mother will probably want to hear from you too, you know," he said.

Ben sighed; his uncle was right. He owed it to his mother to at least check in with her. He faced the control panel again and hesitantly switched the HoloNet access back on. As Luke typed in the communication codes to connect with Leia on Trora, Ben slumped into the seat next to him. Considering how far they were from the planet, he figured they'd be waiting a while for the connection to patch through to his mother.

….

"Madam Chancellor? Sorry to disturb you, but you're needed in the panel room for a meeting," the attendant standing in Leia's doorway announced.

"Now?" Leia asked, and the attendant nodded. She sighed and rose from the couch in her suite's living area. She rubbed a hand down her pant leg, her knees sore from all of the walking she'd done on Storia. She hated how _old_ she felt now. "Alright, I'm coming," she grumbled. "Who's even conducting a meeting right now?"

"Some of the pilots and soldiers that fought on Storia, madam," the man informed her. "There are some...issues they would like to go over with you."

"But we won the battle on Storia. And with few casualties, too," Leia remarked, pressing her brows together in confusion.

"I'm not sure it's about that, exactly, Madam Chancellor," he said.

Leia was about to follow the man out of her suite when her blinking data pad caught her attention at the edge of her vision. She turned and picked it up from the couch, seeing the request for audio communication on the screen. "Huh. I don't recognize this transmission code," she muttered, frowning.

The attendant in the doorway craned his head. "Madam?"

"I don't know who's trying to contact me," she said, looking over to him.

"Perhaps it isn't a good idea to answer," the attendant suggested. "It could be an Empire spy."

Leia pursed her mouth and looked back to the datapad in her hands. "Hm, I'll take my chances," she decided, tapping the confirmation button. For a few moments, she only heard static. Then a familiar voice began to filter through the crackling noise.

"Leia? Leia, can you hear me?"

Her eyes widened, and she held the datapad closer to her ear. "Luke! Luke, is that you I hear?"

"Yep, it's me."

"Um, Madam Chancellor…?" the attendant trailed, looking across at her expectantly.

"Go on back to the panel room, tell them that I'll be there soon," she said, waving him off and settling back onto the couch. "Close the door behind you, will you?" She let out a breath, relieved to have the weight off of her aching knees.

"How are you, Luke? Maker, what happened to you and Rey?" she questioned. She'd had no idea where they'd gone during the last battle, but she'd felt through the Force that they had survived, so she hadn't been too worried.

"I'm fine, Leia. So is Rey. I'm with her and Ben now," Luke explained, the static clearing from his end.

Leia's heart leapt at the mention of her son. "You _are?_ How's my son?"

"I'm fine, mother," she heard Ben say. "Everyone's fine."

"Ben!" Leia exclaimed. What she would do to hold him in her arms again! "My boy! I wish I could see you, I miss you so much."

"I miss you too," Ben said.

"Leia, is anyone else listening in right now?" Luke asked.

Leia found herself shaking her head. "No, no, all's clear," she assured.

"We're on our way to Ach-To right now," Luke informed her.

"Ach- _To?"_ Leia repeated, dumbfounded. "Luke, why in the name of the Maker would you want to go back _there?_ Don't tell me you're going to disappear for another thirty years."

"It's the safest place I could think of," Luke said. "The Empire's searching for us. I figured it was best to just get Ben and Rey away from the war front."

Leia frowned down at the datapad, imagining her brother's stubborn bearded face. "No, you three are going to turn right back around and come straight to Trora."

"That's exactly what Snoke would expect us to do," Ben piped in. "Besides, Mom, the Empire's fleet has grown. If we go back to Trora, the Empire will focus all of their efforts there and we'll stand no chance. As long as we remain hidden, there will be armadas searching all over the galaxy for us, and they will remain divided."

"What about when they find you?" she asked. Ben's reasoning was sound, she had to admit, but she didn't like that this plan kept him so far from her.

"We...we'll figure that out when we get to it. Maybe we'll go planet-hopping," Luke said.

"That's not going to work forever, Luke," Leia warned. "We're going to have to face the new Empire directly at some point. Snoke, too, or this war is never going to end."

"You're starting to sound like Maz," Luke said. "We just came from Takodana."

"And?" Leia prompted. "What did she have to say?"

"Same thing as you," Luke said. "Well, specifically, she wants Ben and Rey to face Snoke. But I told her no, not a chance."

Leia had always trusted Maz's judgement, but she certainly didn't want Rey or her son battling Snoke, either. "Not a chance," she agreed. "Ben, you're not doing that, okay? You hear me? Rey either," she urged, raising her voice. "Don't be getting any ideas, you're not to go anywhere near that Snoke ever again."

"Well, it's not what I want to do, either, but...I can't make any promises," Ben said.

"Ben _Organa-Solo,"_ she scolded.

"Yes, mother," he conceded.

"We should go, Leia, we don't want to cross signals with any Empire ships," Luke said. "I just wanted to let you know that everyone's safe."

 _For now,_ Leia thought grimly, and ducked her head. She wanted to speak to her son for longer, but she couldn't endanger them. "Alright. Thank you for the call. Please keep me updated as often as you can. I want to hear from all of you."

"We'll do that," Luke said.

"I love you two," Leia said. "Please keep yourselves safe." The two men murmured their "love you's" in return and the call ended, leaving her to the cold silence of her suite. She sighed and brought her hand to her heart, a smile spreading across her mouth. She pictured Ben and Luke together again, after all of these years. She thought they'd never get along again, but now...now it seemed that things were perhaps falling back into place, as much as they could. Slowly, but surely.

She lifted from the couch and trudged over to her nightstand. She dug her way through the packed drawers, searching. _It has to be in here somewhere,_ she thought. She knew she'd kept it all of these years. And—there it was. The white plush tauntaun Ben had had since he'd been just a baby, courtesy of Luke.

Leia sat down on the edge of her bed with the stuffed toy, examining it, plucking at its soft fur. It was one of the very few childhood things she had left from her son since the destruction of their home on Hosnian Prime. She held the toy tightly to her chest, memories of young Ben flooding her mind. On the verge of tears, she shut her eyes, firm resolve building within her.

Though she didn't like that her son was still so far from her, at least he was safe. And she was going to do everything in her power to keep him that way.

….

As the communication with Leia ended, Ben thought he heard laughter from the ship's central chamber. Exchanging a puzzled glance with Luke, he rose and made his way down the hall.

"That's too funny. He really did that?" he heard Rey ask as he stepped into the chamber. He was taken aback to see her sitting amongst his group of knights, all unmasked.

"Rey?" Ben addressed. All in the group turned to look up at him, like children seated in a schooltime circle. "I thought...you were going to take a nap."

"Marcus said you once saved a lothcat from a tree during a battle," she said, smiling, her cheeks rosy from recent laughter.

Ben looked around at all of his knights. They turned solemn and cowed under his calculating gaze, deciphering if they had stepped out of line in talking to Rey. Probing quickly through their minds, Ben found that they'd been sharing stories with Rey about their travels and battles under his leadership. Looking back to Rey, he folded his arms and allowed his shoulders to relax.

"I did do that once," he said. "But afterwards, it bit me." He heard one of the men stifle back a laugh. "I brought it back to Hux, thinking it would do the same to him."

"How nice of you," Rey teased.

"But, as the Force would have it, the cat ended up taking a liking to him," Ben continued.

"And it kept attacking you, didn't it?" Marcus chuckled.

"Only every time I passed by it on the Finalizer," Ben said, and the men chuckled.

Ben looked around at his men, realizing that he'd never heard any of them laugh before. Or smile, for that matter. He knew their conversation was harmless, but he figured that Rey had just stopped to talk with them out of politeness. He trusted his men, knew that they'd always looked to him for leadership instead of Nodin, but still he was wary to allow them to be so casual around Rey. They were his knights, after all; it wasn't their place to sit and joke around with his girlfriend. Ben made eye contact with Rey and waved her towards him. "C'mon," he said, and watched as Rey got up and made her way to the edge of the room. She turned and smiled back at the group of knights.

"It was nice to meet you all," she said. "Maybe we'll have time to talk again soon." She followed Ben down the hall and touched his sleeve as they stopped at his bedroom's sliding door. "Ben, you didn't tell me they were all so _friendly,_ " she said.

"They're not _friendly,_ Rey, they're knights," Ben insisted, stepping into the small room. "Warriors."

"That doesn't mean they aren't _people,_ Ben," she said, plopping down on the edge of the bed. She watched as he bent down and removed his boots. "They have feelings too, just like stormtroopers. I used to think those troopers were all just a bunch of robots until I realized that they were actually people inside of armour. They're just like us, you only have to be willing to get to know them."

"Right," Ben said sarcastically.

"Ben, that's not fair. You're not listening," Rey protested.

Seeing her annoyed expression, Ben raised his eyebrows, demonstrating that she had his full attention.

"Your knights, all of those stormtroopers that were taken as children and raised to fight—they're also human beings, they deserve respect, same as us," Rey continued. "I mean, look at Finn. He was a stormtrooper and now he's one of my best friends."

"Finn." Ben paused, narrowing his eyes.

"Yes, Finn. My friend. The one you called a traitor on Starkiller, remember?"

"I do. But I don't like remembering that day," Ben said, casting his gaze away as the image of his father falling from the catwalk flashed through his mind.

"I'm know," Rey said. She patted the edge of the bed, and Ben sat down next to her.

Ben pressed a kiss to her forehead, sliding his fingers down her back.

Rey looked down to her lap. "Ben, there's something I wanted to tell you," she said. "On Storia, before the battle, I was with Poe. The pilot. He...he told he loved me, and he...I let him kiss me. I didn't know how to react. I couldn't bear to hurt his feelings, not just before a battle."

Ben remembered Luke's memory of the event, but he forced the image from his mind. He swallowed and continued to trace his fingers down Rey's back. "I see."

"I meant to tell you about it earlier, but I was just waiting for a less stressful time, you know?" she asked quietly.

He nodded and shrugged. "It's not a big deal," he said.

Rey frowned. "What?"

"It's okay if you kissed him," he assured, raising his brows.

"You're not upset?" she asked, confused.

"Well, I'd rather he hadn't have done that, but...I'm not worried, if that's what you mean," he said. He felt her probing his mind, and he let her in.

She narrowed her eyes. "You already knew," she realized. "You saw it in Luke's mind. And you didn't say anything?"

"I didn't think it was necessary to say anything," Ben said, locking eyes with her. "I know that you love me, Rey. And I that you love Poe and Finn, but as friends. They bring you happiness, and you, them." He paused, his gaze shifting. "But frankly, considering your effect on _me..._ I'd expected them to be in love with you, too."

Rey eyed him suspiciously. "You're not...jealous, then?" she probed.

He raised an eyebrow. "Do you want me to be?" he asked, tilting his head.

Rey bit back a smile, stifling a laugh. "I just...I'd expected you to be, is all."

"Well, I'm not going to go after that pilot, if that's what you were thinking. I have no intention to kill your friends." He paused, his eyes dropping to his lap. "Even on Starkiller, I couldn't bring myself to kill Finn. I injured him greatly, I know, and for that I don't ever expect forgiveness on his part or yours. But I'd seen in your mind how much you cared for him, and I didn't want to take him from you. Selfishly, yes, I took my own self-hatred out on him, because I recognized that he was...he was stronger than me. He was everything I'd wanted to be. The man I _should_ have been."

Rey rested her hand on his shoulder, and he met her eyes once again. "But think about everything you've done now," she said. "You've renounced the Empire, you've made up with your mother, your uncle..." She slid her hand down his arm. "I'm proud of you."

"It's not enough to make up for everything I've done," he said. "Nothing can."

"Well, what's important is that you're on the right path," Rey assured. "It's going to take time, but...at some point, you'll have to learn to forgive yourself." She held his cheek and pressed a kiss to his mouth. She leaned her weight into him, pressing him onto his back. She smiled and climbed atop him, hovering her face over his. "And if anything, you'll always have me," she murmured, brushing her nose against his.

The corner of his mouth lifted in a smile. "Not unless that pilot steals you away," he teased, gauging her reaction.

Rey let her gaze travel, biting back a smile.. "He _is_ rather brave," she mused.

Ben held her chin, turning her face back towards his. "Brave?" he repeated.

"And charming."

"Charming."

"Mm-hm," she hummed.

"I can be those things," Ben said, tucking her dangling hair behind her ear. Rey smiled. "You _did_ want me to be jealous about that kiss, didn't you?" he teased, smiling and narrowing his eyes. Rey bit her lip and looked away, feigning innocence. She giggled as Ben pulled her down to him and rolled atop her, switching places. "Naughty Scavenger. I'll just have to make sure you're still mine, then, won't I?" He kissed her, holding her head in place between his hands. Rey's hand moved to the back of his neck as they kissed, sending pleasurable sensations as her fingers moved up to his scalp. Ben lowered his mouth to the side of her neck and pressed his lips to her warm skin. He nipped her gently with his teeth, indicating his brewing urge.

"Ben," Rey protested, shifting in an attempt to move from under him. " _Ben,_ no," she breathed.

Ben kissed her mouth to placate her, running his hands along her clothed body, allowing his heated energy to flow through to her. He felt her relax beneath him, and he smiled against her mouth as she a hooked a leg over his, drawing him closer. He kissed her deeply, grinding his hips once against her and seeing bright flares of color behind his eyelids. He brought his lips to her ear and felt her shiver. "Now, what do you say?" he breathed, sliding a hand underneath the hem of her blouse.

"Okay—but _quietly,"_ she hissed.

Ben lifted her upper body with the Force and began sliding her shirt up her arms as a knock sounded on the bedroom door. He dropped Rey to the bed and they both swivelled to look towards the door as Luke's voice sounded on the other side.

"Hello, you kids in there? We've reached our destination," he called.

Rey swallowed audibly. "Alright," she called back.

Ben huffed out a sigh and collapsed on his stomach next to Rey. "Kriff," he groaned into the covers.

Rey patted his rear. "I'm sure we'll find time later," she assured.

Ben turned his face and watched as Rey rose from the bed and began fixing her blouse back into place. She turned towards him and extended a hand. "Oh, come on, there's no use in pouting about it," she said, yanking his arm.

Ben reluctantly got up from the bed. Rey pulled him out of the room and along the hallway. "So you're _sure_ this place isn't the same island we've envisioned?" he asked, looking down at her.

"I'm sure," she said. "Trust me, it's a lot different."

Ben immediately saw what she meant as they looked out of the ship's front window. He watched intently as Luke coasted the ship over a dark, grey-blue ocean towards a series of brownish islands. Luke eased the ship toward one of the taller, greener islands, but there was nothing familiar or even inviting about it to Ben. The waves crashing violently against the island's dark rocky shore were nothing like the sparkling waters and pristine white beach of the island he'd dreamt of.

With a lump in his throat, Ben wondered if his and Rey's mystery island was, in fact, nothing more than a pleasant dream.

After the landing gear settled the shuttle in place at the base of the isle, Luke rose and pulled his cloak from the back of the pilot's chair.

"It can get pretty cold and windy up there, best to bring whatever coats and blankets you have," he said, pulling his cloak around his shoulders.

Ben led Rey to a storage room at the back of the ship and together they rummaged through shelves to find extra articles of clothing. Finding no blankets, they shed the pillows and covers from Ben's bed and bundled them into their arms.

Luke was waiting for them on the rocky grade at the bottom of the ship's dropped ramp.

"What about your knights?" Luke asked as Ben and Rey descended from the ship. "I don't think I have enough food in the huts to feed all of them."

Ben turned and looked back up into the ship, where Marcus was standing.

"We can stay and look after the shuttle if you'd like, sir," Marcus said. "There are food and supplies for us here."

"Okay. Make sure you keep the Holonet access off so no one can figure out our location," Ben called, and Marcus nodded and turned.

"Speaking of food, I'm not sure you'll like it much here," Luke said, scratching his chin in thought.

Ben lifted his face to the sky, seeing a swirl of thick grey clouds above and feeling the icy brush of the ocean breeze upon his face. He and Rey both turned as the white fingers of a wave collided with the rocks to their side. The foaming wave hissed in its retreat back into the dark sea. Ben couldn't imagine how cold the water must be.

Luke turned around and motioned for them to follow him up the craggy steps. "C'mon, you two love birds. Best to make it up to the top before nightfall."

Ben peered up the steep steps, hesitantly adjusting the bundle of scarves and bed covers in his arms. He looked to Rey, knowing that she'd made this trek before. "Nightfall?" he asked her. "Will it really take that long?"

Rey let out a short laugh and began ascending the first steps behind Luke. "Let's just say your legs are probably going to feel like they're on fire by the time we reach the top."

….

"Leia, it's good to see you," Finn said, appearing concerned as he moved up to the chancellor's side as she stepped into the crowded panel room. The others in the room were engaged in various conversations.

"Hello, Finn," Leia greeted with a quick smile. She scanned the group of pilots, soldiers, and officers around her with curiosity. "What is the meaning of this?" she asked the group, and everyone quieted as they noticed her presence in the room.

"There are some matters of concern we need to address with you," one of the pilots near her said.

Leia frowned. "That's rather vague," she remarked, raising an eyebrow.

"Leia," Poe said, stepping forward to the planning table from across the room. "It's about your son."

* * *

 _Phew, another chapter! Not very eventful, I know, but we will definitely have another action-packed segment soon enough...*rubs hands together*_

 _Also, I know some of you had questions about how Force users are generated in this star wars universe, whether through blood and/or at random, and these questions should be (mostly) answered in the next chapter. We gotta break open some ol' Jedi Journals first!_


	21. Chapter 21: BB-8's Testimony

_I'm back! Happy New Year! So seeing Rogue One got me back into the Star Wars mood and thus this chapter was (finally!) finished._

* * *

"My son?" Leia balked.

"Yes, Madam Chancellor," Poe repeated with a respectful nod. He looked down and tapped his fingers against the metal of the table's edge. "We need to plan a course of action. Since we've still had no word from Luke or Rey, we have to assume that Kylo Ren is the cause of their disappearance from Storia," he said.

"No, no, hold on, Mr. Dameron. I just talked to Luke and Rey— _and_ Ben," Leia declared, stepping up to the table and meeting the many eyes around her. "Luke and Rey are fine. They're all fine."

To her side, she heard BB-8 chirp and Finn release a relieved sigh.

"'Fine?'" Admiral Ackbar repeated. "We have not heard from them in several days, how did you manage to finally hear from them?"

"I just talked with them through my Holo tablet," she said. "They're headed—" she paused, catching herself; she didn't want to reveal their location lest the word somehow reach a tapped device or Empire spy. "They're going away for now to remain hidden from Snoke," she amended.

"But we _need_ Luke and Rey—they're Jedi, the only ones on our side that have the Force!" one of the officers blurted. He paused and tipped his hat towards her. "Besides you, of course, Madam Chancellor," he added hastily.

"Where exactly are they going, then?" Poe asked, raising an eyebrow.

Darting her eyes to the pilot, Leia shook her head. "I can't tell you that, I'm afraid. That would put them into too much danger. Their location must remain secret."

Low murmurs sounded from around the table.

"But what if Luke and Rey are being held against their will?" Poe pressed. "Isn't Kylo Ren a danger to them? We should go after them."

Most of the officers and pilots around the table nodded and buzzed in agreement.

Leia stiffened as she watched the men and women around her, all so eager to fight. But _this_ was the wrong fight. She had to convince them—but how?

She looked back across at Poe, letting out a breath to compose herself again amidst the side chatter. "My son is not the villain you're looking for, Poe Dameron," she declared, and the room again grew silent.

"Yes, my son has fought for the Empire. Ben has committed war crimes. He has aided in the chaos currently ensuing in the galaxy. But this was a result of brainwashing and misguided thinking. I assure you Ben does _not_ have malicious intentions, nor has he ever—I _know_ my son." Leia took in a breath, pausing for emphasis. "I am not going to excuse any of Ben's wrongdoings, nor do I expect anyone to excuse them just because he is Han and I's son. He shall answer for his crimes when it is the appropriate time. But now is not that time. He is _not_ a threat to us—For now, we need him as our ally."

"An ally? You're sure of this?" An officer prodded.

"He turned against his own father, and against _you,_ Leia. I can't trust him. I don't think any of us should," Poe said, looking down at the table and shaking his head.

"I've already told you all before that Ben did not kill his father. But Ben turned against Han and I because we weren't there for him," Leia divulged, her lower lip quivering. "We weren't there for him when he was young, when he was just figuring out himself and his powers...when he needed us most.

"He felt abandoned by us, neglected. So he ended up falling victim to Snoke's manipulation, because Snoke turned out to be the only one who was even willing to listen to him," she explained, her voice rising with emotion. She let out a long breath and gripped the edge of the table for support. " _Snoke_ is our enemy. _Not_ my son...And though he turned away from his parents because he found us lacking, believe me when I say that he would _not_ now betray his uncle, nor Rey."

Poe looked up and was apparently about to disagree when Finn stepped closer to Leia's side and cleared his throat.

"She's right," he said, and several pilots around the table whispered in surprise. "Ben wouldn't go against them. He would especially never harm Rey."

Poe's mouth dropped open. "Finn, what are you talking about?" he asked.

Finn swallowed, meeting the questioning eyes around the table. He felt like he was back in the Resistance bunker about to disclose what he knew about Starkiller Base. But this time, the information he was going to share was something more personal. Something that he knew might just break his best friend's heart.

"Ben loves Rey," Finn announced, and averted his gaze from Poe before continuing. "And I know that Rey loves him too." The pilots and officers in the room emitted low chatter. "Ben's on our side, I know that we can trust him now," Finn added with a nod. "I'm sure of it."

Leia turned to Finn and gave him an encouraging smile. ' _Thank you,'_ she mouthed.

"I believe Finn," Jessika declared, moving closer to Finn's side. "When Ben interrogated me, I saw how much he cares about Rey, _and_ his mother," she said, glancing over to Leia. "I saw glimpses of what he's been through, his pain. Ben's troubled, but I don't think he's evil or bad."

" _Kylo Ren_ is tricking us," Poe uttered, and everyone turned towards him. Leia shot him a disappointed look. "He's managed to deceive Rey. And...apparently you too, Finn," he added sadly. "He sliced up your spine, put you into a coma for weeks. And now you think that he's suddenly turned good? Finn, buddy...think about what you're saying," he urged, his eyes troubled.

Everyone turned back towards Finn.

"I _know_ it sounds crazy," Finn began, "but you have to believe me. You have to believe _Rey,"_ he said, looking directly at Poe. "We all love and trust her. She's been a great friend to all of us here."

Everyone in the room nodded and murmured in agreement.

"And if she trusts Ben Solo, if she sees good in him, then—kriff, I've _got_ to believe her," he contended, pressing a hand to the edge of the table.

People began talking over other each other. Leia was anxious as she overheard the many opinions resounding throughout the room. Some people were still siding with Poe, some agreed with Finn, while others still seemed on the fence.

 _If only there were some way to truly convince them all,_ she thought. _We need everyone united and on the same page, or we run the risk of everyone breaking into different factions. If that happens, then the Empire will prevail._

Leia jolted as BB-8 brushed past her legs and began beeping energetically.

"What is it, BB-8?" Finn asked, leaning over to peer down at the droid.

BB-8 beeped and wobbled agitatedly in place.

"Shh, everybody," Finn urged, and gradually, the room began to quiet down as BB-8 spoke.

"Is that BB-8? What's he got to say?" Poe asked, leaning over the table to listen.

"Here—" Finn grunted as he struggled to lift BB-8 from the ground. Jessika stepped quickly beside him to help him lift the heavy spherical droid onto the planning table.

"You've got the stage, buddy," Poe said to his droid.

"But I don't speak droid," one of the pilots murmured.

"I don't either," Finn shrugged.

BB-8 began to chirp as it rolled towards Poe, facing him.

"I know, you already told me he kept you as his droid," Poe said, lowering his brows.

BB-8 shook and signalled in response.

As he listened, Poe's expression grew increasingly somber.

"What's he saying?" Finn asked.

Jessika spoke up. "He's saying that Ben was a friend to him. That he believes Ben is, ultimately, good." A smile crept upon her mouth as she glanced at Finn.

"The droid's just been with the Empire for too long, it's been messed with," one of the officers said dismissively. "He's forgotten that he's _your_ droid, Dameron."

Poe folded his arms across his chest and shook his head slowly, his eyes still focused on BB-8. "No," he said, pausing. "His loyalty subprogram can't be rewritten."

"Meaning?" The pilot asked.

" _Meaning…_ " Poe began, his arms lowering to his sides, "BB-8's telling the truth."

….

"Finally," Ben huffed under his breath as he, Luke, and Rey slowed to a stop before an array of stone huts.

"We made it," Rey concurred, smiling up at him. Her cheeks were flushed red from their long trek up the mountain. Ben watched as she bent her knees, sensing that her legs—like his—were aching from the climb.

"Good thing we made it up here before nightfall," Luke said, rubbing his face. "That climb's awfully risky when you can't see where you're stepping.

"I can imagine," Ben mused dryly, lifting an eyebrow.

Luke lead them closer to the huts and gestured towards the rocky structures. "You two can take your pick, these huts are pretty much all the same. I mean—" he paused, catching himself. "I expect you two will, uh, be sharing one." He turned and scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Hm. I can't remember which one of these I left the old journals in..."

"I think I remember...I'll look," Rey offered, setting down her armful of pillows and blankets. Luke followed her as she ventured through the line of huts.

Ben set his bundle next to Rey's, sighing with exhaustion as he rose. He peered at the line of ocean beyond, the churning waters cast in the violent orange glow of the setting sun. The scattered islands in the distance looked like rocks jutting from lava. Lava that gave off no heat, but an icy, bitter wind.

As Ben stood observing, the full reality of their situation crept back into his mind, filling him with cold dread. He was aware of how far the three of them were from any familiar planetary system. How alone.

"Found them," Rey called from a hut near Ben, pulling him out of his reverie. Ben watched as Luke and Rey ducked out of a hut nearby.

"Ben and I can just stay in this one for the night," she said to Luke. "I'm tired, but I'd like to look through some of the journals before I sleep."

She yawned as she walked back to Ben's side, and Luke and Ben found themselves doing the same.

"Alright, well, since we're _all_ tired, let's just reconvene in the morning," Luke decided. "From what I remember, those journals are pretty cryptic, so I'm not sure how much progress you'll make tonight...I'm sure we'll find _something_ useful in them," he said, sounding genuinely hopeful.

"I'm sure we will," Rey agreed, nodding drowsily at Luke. She flashed a smile to Ben, who returned it, but his heart wasn't in it. He knew Rey sensed this.

Rey scooped up her pile of pillows and headed back towards her chosen hut.

"Goodnight," Ben said to Luke, gathering up his blankets. He began following Rey until his uncle spoke up behind him.

"Ben, wait, another thing," Luke addressed, lowering his voice. Ben turned and moved closer to hear him.

"These huts? They're very close together," Luke noted, gesturing towards the structures around them. "And _very_ old, as you can see. They're not very stable. Not very... _thick._ " He paused for effect, raising his eyebrows. "And I'll probably be able to hear anything that happens to go on. Not that anything _would,_ just...I thought it would only be fair that you knew."

Ben's heart sunk in his chest, but he kept his expression composed. At least, he hoped he had. "Understood," he said.

Luke patted Ben's shoulder and smiled. "Alright. I know you're your father's son, but…for the sake of everyone getting a good night's sleep, and—"

"I got it," Ben nodded, sidling back from from his uncle. "Goodnight, Luke."

Luke held up a hand. "Oh, hold on, I'll bring you two some food, I forgot to grab some…" he trailed, turning away.

"What did Luke have to say?" Rey asked as Ben ducked through the hut's low entrance. She was sprawled upon the stone ground near a glowing lantern, arranging pillows.

Ben shook his head, avoiding her gaze as he dropped his own bundle to the ground. "He said he's going to bring us food," he stated. He crouched down and together they unfolded the blankets and formed what would be their makeshift bed.

"I have a feeling we're going to be waking up with sore backs," Rey smiled, rubbing her fingers along the uneven stone floor. "Luke had cots here last time, but I think he brought them back to Trora." She shivered once and hugged her knees to her chest.

"At least we'll have each other to keep warm," Ben assured, settling down and wrapping an arm snugly around her shoulders. He smiled as Rey sighed in contentment, nestling her head into his chest.

They were quiet for a time as they clung to each other, staying warm, their breath escaping in visible white wisps.

"You know, if we had to stay here forever...if it was just us...I wouldn't really mind," Ben said, breaking the silence. Rey leaned back to look up at his face.

"Really?" she asked, surprised. "But there's so many other places to go, there's so much of the galaxy I still haven't seen," she said, her eyes distant and bright. "I can't imagine staying in one place forever...even if it was with you. No offense," she added with a giggle.

Ben smiled, understanding. Of course she wouldn't be content to stay on one planet, that's what she'd done for most of her life already.

"I for one am tired of constantly travelling, of never staying in one place," Ben said, sliding his knuckles down Rey's arm. "My parents and Luke were always taking me everywhere around the galaxy when I was young...I never really felt like I had much of a home. But if you wanted to traverse the galaxy, I'd be happy to be your travelling partner." He smiled and leaned down to kiss her, but just before their lips met he paused at the sound of boots padding towards their hut.

"Alright, dinner's here," Luke announced, stepping into their tiny abode with a wooden tray.

Ben helped pull Rey to her feet before inspecting what Luke had to offer them. He immediately curled his lip at the sight of the shrivelled green strands in the tray before him.

"What... _are_ they?" Ben asked, scrunching his face. He watched in horror as Rey snatched a handful of the food pieces and popped them into her mouth without hesitation.

"Seaweed," Luke chimed pridefully. "I picked it myself from the shoreline last time I was here and dried it. It keeps well in the cold, so it's good to eat. _And_ it's good _for_ you."

"Seaweed," Ben repeated blankly. He stared in repulsion as Rey grabbed more of the long green strands. _Who in their right mind would eat_ seaweed? he thought. _There's no way she could actually like it..._

But Rey was always full of surprises. "Try some, Ben," she said between smiling mouthfuls. "It's really good." He narrowed his eyes at her, sensing her amusement at his distaste.

"Go on," Luke said, extending the tray towards him. "You've got to eat. This is all we have for now, anyway."

Ben reluctantly took a handful of the dried-out pieces and stared at them in his palm.

"Okay, well. Goodnight, kids," Luke said, ducking out of the hut. "I'll close the door, it looks like the wind's picking up. Once the sun's gone down all the way, that wind can feel like icicles."

"That's nice," Ben muttered tartly.

"Ben, why aren't you eating?" Rey asked after Luke had shut the wooden door behind him.

"I'm not hungry," he lied, settling down onto the blankets. He looked up as Rey stood over him, hands on her hips like a scolding mother.

"Food is food, Ben," Rey chided. "We should be grateful to have any at all in this desolate place. We can't be picky."

Ben knew that she'd grown up eating the same food portions every day on Jakku, so she'd grown accustomed to being content with whatever form of nutrition she came across. He hoped to one day change that. He wanted to spoil her with all kinds of delicious foods.

Maker, had she not even yet tried _cake?_

He felt a flood of sympathy as she sat down in front of him, finishing the last strand of her seaweed. She tilted her face and pinched her brows together as she chewed.

"Are you alright?" she asked softly, reaching out to stroke her fingers down his sleeve.

Ben smiled adoringly at her. "I should be asking _you._ You're the one who thinks this _stuff_ is good to eat," he teased, looking down at the seaweed in his hand. Sucking in a quick breath, he shut his eyes tight and shoved the food into his mouth.

His tongue was bombarded with a stinging saltiness and he clasped his hand over his mouth. He stared at Rey with wide eyes as he forcibly swallowed.

Rey rocked backwards with laughter. "Oh come on, it's not bad at all! You're acting like a baby!" she mocked.

Ben coughed down the rest of the bits of the food in his throat as her laughter subsided. He brought his hand to his mouth again and cleared his throat. "That was the worst thing I've ever tasted," he grumbled.

"And you're the strangest person I've ever met," Rey chuckled, and began to shiver. "I forgot how freezing it gets here at night," she said, rubbing her arms.

"Come here, you poor baby," he teased, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into him. "Jakku scavengers don't do well in the cold, do they?"

"N-no," she stammered, her teeth clacking together. "B-but you lived on S-starkiller Base. I'll bet you're no good in the heat."

"Weather doesn't faze me," he declared heroically. He pressed his lips to her cheek. "Nothing can."

"N-nothing?" she repeated, raising an eyebrow.

 _Nothing but you,_ he pressed into her mind, and he gently kissed her. He studied the freckles dotting her nose and cheeks and tucked her hair behind her ear. It was windblown and wavy and nothing short of lovely.

Rey closed her eyes and smiled, letting out a long breath as he peppered kisses all over her face. "Mm, shouldn't we start flipping through those journals?" she breathed with a smile, holding onto his arm wrapped around her middle.

Ben paused at her temple, bringing himself back to reality. "The journals," he uttered. "Hm. Yes. You're right." He sat back from her and extended a palm, bringing one of the stacked leather-bound books flying into his hand.

Rey scooted close to his side as he flipped open the large blank cover. On the first page was written, in faded ink, _Jedha under Imperial Rule._

"Hmm, Jedha...I've heard of that place," Ben said. "Wasn't it destroyed by the original Empire?"

Rey nodded. "I think so. If the tales that circulated around Niima Outpost can be trusted, that is."

Ben flipped through the pages, skimming a few sentences: _There were many accounts of the Empire looting Kyber crystals from the temples of the city._ _The Empire seemed to have an insatiable need for Kyber. Now it is known that this material was needed to construct the Death Star._

Ben lifted his eyes, pausing. "If this book is about Imperial rule...maybe all of these books aren't so old after all," he postulated, setting the book aside. He called a new book into his grasp.

But the next few volumes that he and Rey flipped through would be of decidedly older origin, bearing stained, torn pages and ancient titles to prove it, bearing such names as _The Jedi Code, Emblems of the Jedi Order, Collection of Accounts of the Old Republic._ Another book they came across seemed a sort of sketchbook, full of drawings of what appeared to be early lightsaber designs.

"Look!" Rey exclaimed, pressing her finger to a sketch of a saber with a crossguard vent. "It's like yours."

"I based my saber off of these early designs I'd heard of," he said, cracking a smile. "Although, I'll admit I had to do it that way because the kyber crystal in my lightsaber is cracked, as you know. So I needed to figure out a way to vent out the extra energy, to stabilize it."

"Why was the crystal cracked?" she asked.

Ben flashed another smile. "Well, I was very young when I forged my saber, too young for Luke to have taught me how to properly build one. I'd only just begun training with Snoke, and he didn't show me how to do it. So I really just made it out of a process of trial-and-error, and the crystal broke because I got frustrated and tried to rush building it."

"That sounds like you, Short Temper," she teased, poking his cheek.

Ben frowned. "I don't have a short temper," he dissented.

"Don't lie to yourself, Kylo Ren," she smiled.

Ben's brows furrowed and he was about to retort, but he caught himself. Instead, his mouth pulled into a sly smile and he grabbed Rey, flipping her over onto the blankets to their side. He kept an arm around her back, keeping her middle lifted from the ground.

Rey smiled as she stared up at him, giggling once before he lowered and kissed her into the pillows. She hummed out a sigh as he kissed the warm curve of her neck, her fingers tracing up into his hair.

"I love you so much," Ben mumbled into her ear. He was lost in her scent, her warmth, his affection for her as he mouthed her. But as the draft creeping in under the door reached him, bringing with it a reminder of his uncle's words, Ben broke from Rey's mouth and froze. He stared down at her. "We should...get some sleep," he breathed.

Rey scowled as he slipped his arm from underneath her and settled next to her onto the ground. "That's...very unlike you," she remarked, lifting a brow.

Ben smiled and rolled towards her to kiss her forehead. "I'm afraid this old hut will come crumbling apart if we go any further," he murmured, and she let out a soft giggle.

Ben brushed his fingers through the length of her hair, and he watched as Rey's smile began to fade. He sensed her growing anxious.

"What's bothering you, Love?" he breathed, drawing a circle on her cheek with his fingertip.

"I just...I hope we're not wasting our time here, instead of being with the Order. I just hope we find what we need from those books," she said.

"We will, Rey," he assured, cupping her cheek. "I know we will." He was surprised to realize that he believed what he said.

After a pause, Rey spoke again. "Ben."

"Mm?"

"Could you...show me the island again?" she asked, turning her face to meet his eyes.

Ben smiled and rested a palm against her forehead. He focused his mind and watched as Rey's eyes closed, a smile creeping back upon her mouth.

He shut his own eyes, feeling a puerile tremor of excitement as he focused on the vision of the island: the warmth of the sand, the salty breeze coursing through his hair, the sparkling expanse of the sea. The beckoning calls of the orange and yellow birds, the gently swaying trees, the small footprints in the sand before him.

The altogether unexplainable yet comforting sense that this place he'd never before been to was... _home._

….

As the panel room attendants began to disperse, Leia turned to Finn.

"Thank you, Finn, for standing up for my son. That was brave of you to do, to speak out against your friend and of all of the other pilots," she said, smiling warmly.

"It was nothing. It was BB-8 that did most of the persuading, after all," Finn said, watching the droid as it rolled out of the room with a group of officers and pilots.

Leia was about to speak again when Poe approached them. He looked solemnly from Finn to Leia.

"Princess—er, Chancellor...I'm truly sorry that I didn't believe you," he said. "You, Finn, and BB-8 are all right. And Rey...I realize now that I was wrong."

"That's quite alright, Poe, don't feel bad about yourself," Leia said, giving his arm a reassuring pat. "I know that your heart is always in the right place, and you were merely standing up for what you felt was right." She met his pensive eyes. "You just wanted to keep Rey and everyone safe. There's _no_ shame in that."

Poe sighed. "Thank you, Chancellor."

"Chancellor!" an officer barked from the hallway. "Chancellor!"

The three turned around as the officer ran in through the doorway. The man was nearly panting as he slid to a stop before them and tipped his cap to Leia.

"Madam Chancellor, we've received an urgent warning from a nearby system: a large fleet of Empire ships has been spotted, and they believe they're headed our way," he rasped.

Poe and Finn turned to Leia expectantly, each of the men waiting for her response as she paused to consider.

"Poe, Finn, rally all of our fleets," she instructed, turning determinedly back towards the officer. "It's time we put an end to this war."

* * *

 _Nothing exciting in this chapter, I know, but there will be action and drama-filled chapters coming soon! Thanks for reading._


	22. Chapter 22: Legends of the Sith

Thought you'd seen the last of me, did you? **Think again!**

Long story short, a month or so ago I had this and the remaining chapters finished and ready to post, but I just didn't like them. They were boring and didn't exactly do any favors for the already glacial pace of this story. So, after much thought, I made the executive decision to scrap them completely and start them over, at the cost of taking longer to post again. I also may or may not have gotten sidetracked during this process with writing meta-analysis and starting a new Reylo story.

Huge thanks to those of you who are still sticking around. Thanks in particular to Starling 12 for pointing out the story's one-year anniversary! Can you believe it's already been so long? And I can't wait for _The Last Jedi,_ I was so excited after I saw the teaser trailer.

Without further ado, let's get back into the story...

* * *

Finn focused on Poe's ship as it soared past his own to meet a TIE fighter ahead. The TIE didn't even have a chance to fire before it was obliterated by Poe's surefire blast.

"Nice one!" Finn exclaimed.

"Thanks, buddy!" Poe panted, his voice crackling over the comm unit. "Look, up ahead. There's more. Stay sharp, Blue Squadron."

A large cluster of TIEs was making its rapid approach from the blackened backdrop of space. Finn shifted side to side in his seat, readying himself as he and the rest of his squadron prepared to meet the enemy ships. But the glint of a form in the distance caught his eye, and he stilled, narrowing his gaze.

"Hey, do you guys see that? What is that out there?" Jessika asked over the comm system. Finn looked to the left to see Jessika's X-wing flying alongside his. "I can't make it out, past all of these TIEs…"

"I see it," Finn answered, leaning forward. He squinted, straining to make sense of the shape as it came into view.

 _It can't be..._ he thought. But there was no mistaking the sharp point of the approaching vessel. "Oh, no," he exhaled.

"What is it, Finn, hon?" Jessika asked concernedly.

"I can't see it. Is it an asteroid?" Poe asked.

"That's no asteroid." Finn swallowed, shaking his head. "It's the _Finalizer._ The giant star destroyer."

"Are you sure?" Poe questioned. "Looks like they've brought a bigger army than we were expecting. Well, everyone stay focused. Don't get distracted. We—we've got this," he said. For the first time, Finn heard fear in his friend's voice.

"What are we going to do?" One of the other pilots asked. "Why did they bring their star destroyer?"

"It can only mean one thing, right, Finn?" Jessika pressed.

Finn let out a gruff breath, suddenly aware of the sweat sliding down his face as he stared at the massive ship ahead. He was well aware of the powerful weapons the _Finalizer_ used to destroy ships and cities alike.

"Right," he assented.

"Meaning?" Poe asked.

"They've come to level our base," Finn reluctantly admitted. There was a tense pause in communication as he and the other X-wings swerved to avoid blasts from the oncoming TIEs.

Another of the other pilot's voices crackled through the comm unit. "Jessika? Where's she going?"

Frowning, Finn looked back over his shoulder, searching for Jessika's X-wing, but he couldn't find it amongst the others.

"Looks like she turned around," Poe observed. "Jessika, what are you doing? We need you!"

"I'm heading back, I have to get Leia and the others out of there. We can't take any risks."

…..

As Rey slowly blinked open her eyes, her vision came to focus on the empty spot on the blankets beside her. She laid still a moment, recalling tranquil dreams of twinkling stars and glowing moons. She felt calmed. Content.

But as she sat up to stretch her arms, she winced, finding her back stiff and sore. Though she had slept well, the stone ground had been unforgiving.

Rising to her feet, Rey peered across the hut to a slew of open books scattered across the ground. She sensed Ben's presence outside.

She pulled on her boots and a warm cloak, attaching her lightsaber to her belt out of habit. The cold morning air was a shock to her lungs as she pushed through the hut's heavy wooden door, and she took short, shallow breaths as she strode up the green slope of the fog-smothered island.

She narrowed her eyes as she spotted Ben standing atop the hill, facing the cliff's edge. She was reminded of her first glimpse of Luke upon her initial trek to Ahch-To, though Ben's neat, dark cloak and taller stature made him a more imposing figure than his uncle.

"Ben?" she called softly. "What are you doing out here?"

He turned towards her as she approached, his dark eyes weary.

"You're out here all alone," Rey observed, taking gentle hold of his sleeve.

Ben slid his arm around her waist, pulling her into his side. "Well, there aren't many others living here," he said, giving her a soft smile. "I needed some fresh air. I've been going through those journals all morning. There's so much information in them, but I wasn't finding anything relevant. I was just—I was getting really—"

"Frustrated," she finished, sensing his feelings through their bond.

"Yes," he nodded, a smile crossing his lips.

"I had nice dreams," she said. "I dreamt of flying through the stars and clouds of rainbow dust."

"Did you?" Ben asked, sounding amused. He lowered his face to hers.

Rey moved her head back from his as he attempted to kiss her. "Everytime I sleep with you I happen to have such wonderful dreams," she noted, raising an eyebrow. "Is that your doing?"

"It's...the Force," he teased, and they smiled at each other knowingly. This time, Rey moved her face to his, and as their lips met she let out a contented sigh. But the kiss was brief, and Ben seemed distracted.

The rosy warmth of Ben's face began to fade as he looked back out to the sea. Rey leaned into his side, staring up at him.

"There's something you want to say," she sensed. "Something's wrong."

Ben looked down to her. "Yes. And I think it has to do with Trora."

"Trora? You're sure?" Rey asked, surprised.

Ben shrugged nonchalantly, but the twitch of his mouth revealed his worry.

"It's the Empire, isn't it? That, and..." She couldn't bring herself to say the Darksider's name aloud.

"It has to be be," he answered. "I sense a great movement. A great disturbance in the Force."

"Morning," Luke called from behind them, and they both turned as he approached up the green hill. "I sense trouble," he announced as he stopped before them, his wise blue eyes shifting to Ben. "Do you?"

Ben nodded solemnly. "Yes. Mostly through Leia," he admitted.

Luke nodded and studied Ben for a moment. "Don't get too worried over it, kid, I'm sure she'll be okay," he consoled, patting his nephew's arm. "You know your mother has managed to pull through some crazy things, she'll get of this one. I don't doubt it in the slightest."

"I just...now I wish I was there for her, to help," Ben admitted, pressing his lips together.

"Oh, _now_ you want to fight?" Rey questioned, propping her hands on her hips. "Leia has the whole fleet of the Organa Order behind her, she doesn't need _you,"_ she teased.

Ben let out a breath. "I suppose you're right," he admitted.

"Like Luke said, your mother would want you here, away from the war," Rey continued.

"I can't let you go over there after her. She'd strangle me," Luke chuckled.

"Huttslayer," Ben said, looking at the ground and cracking a smile.

" _Exactly,"_ Luke chuckled, and paused. "You two managed to go through those journals much?"

"We've flipped through them," Ben said, "but we haven't found anything useful yet."

"Well, look, I'll go get some breakfast, and then we can go through them together, okay?" Luke suggested.

"Don't tell me it's seaweed again," Ben complained, and Rey laughed.

"It's the only thing we have," Luke reminded him as he ambled away. "You'll get used to it."

"Something tells me I won't," Ben muttered.

As Luke disappeared below the curve of the grassy hill, Ben returned his gaze to the foggy grey ocean. Wanting to distract his thoughts, Rey poked him in the side.

"Hey, if you want a fight…," she began, backing away and drawing out her saber, "then let's fight."

Ben turned towards her, smiling as she ignited her double-bladed saber.

"Come on, Kylo Ren," she challenged, angling an end of her saber towards him. "I'm _waiting."_

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Ben asked, sliding his own saber from underneath his cloak. A dark smile spread across his face, his cheeks blasting with brilliant red as he ignited his saber before him, lowering it to hers. "Are you sure you want to challenge the Commander of the First Order?"

Rey turned on her heels to face him as he began to circle her. Hissing sparks flew as he slid his lightsaber alongside hers, just as he had done during their dueling on snowy Drecenia.

"You think you can beat me?" He sneered. "You're just a _scavenger."_

Rey wore her own playful mask of defiance. "Maybe I'll scavenge you for useful parts when I'm through with you," she quipped, making a quick jab at him with her weapon.

Ben deftly blocked her blow with his own saber and suppressed a laugh. He locked eyes with her. "I hope you do."

….

"We need to evacuate right _now,_ Madam Chancellor, or we run the risk of never making it out of here," Jessika insisted, urging Leia and her officers out of the planning room.

Leia thought about all of the expensive equipment on her base, the data files, the vehicles, the homes that everyone had built here. The new home that _she_ had built here. An image of Rey's garden flashed through her mind, and she let out a sigh.

It would all be lost. Another home, lost.

Shaking her head, Leia straightened, forcing herself to focus on Jessika. "How much time do we have, dear?" she asked calmly.

"None," Jessika said, shaking her head. "We don't have time to pack everything up. A transport ship is waiting outside for you."

The officers began filing out of the building, but Leia remained in place. Something was tugging at her, and it wasn't just Jessika's hand.

"Wait," Leia balked, blinking. " _Wait,_ I have to get some things."

"Please, there's no time," Jessika urged, her eyes sympathetic. "We can't risk not getting you out of here."

Leia managed to shrug from the girl's grasp and she reversed course down the hallway.

"Madam Chancellor—!"

"I'll be right there. Make sure the others get on board the ship, Jessika. That's a command!" Leia called over her shoulder.

Leia dashed through her suite, grabbing a basket from her desk. She crouched and dug furiously through her nightstand drawer, tossing her datapad and other devices into the basket.

She let out a relieved huff as she found Ben's stuffed wampa and baby blanket, and two envelopes, all of which she stuffed into the basket.

She was about to head out to the ship tarmac, but something flashed through her mind again. Leia hurried outside of the base, picking up speed as she spotted Rey's little house ahead.

….

"Chancellor! There you are! We need to go," Jessika panted, jogging towards her down the tarmac. "Madam Chancellor, are you alright? You're sweating. Here—let me carry this for you," she offered, reaching for the basket, but Leia held it to her chest and shook her head.

"I've got it, but thank you, dear," she smiled, following Jessika up to the ship. Jessika's face was pinched with stress. "How are our boys up there?" she asked.

Jessika nodded reassuringly as she and a group of officers guided Leia through the open side door of the ship. "Oh they'll be fine, like always," she assured, but as Leia boarded the ship, leaving her with her X-wing on the tarmac below, she found herself adding, "I hope."

….

After eating, Luke joined Ben and Rey in their hut to go through the books and Jedi journals. He'd found the two in the middle of a lightsaber duel as he'd brought the food to them, and Rey had abruptly ended their game to eat. Ben, unsurprisingly, had been more reluctant to meet his breakfast.

Luke found himself smiling at the two of them now as they leaned against one another on the floor of the hut, flipping through a journal. He couldn't help but picture them as children again in his academy on Tatooine. _Where has the time gone?_ he marveled. It seemed like just yesterday that Ben's dark, messy mop of hair was no higher than his own elbow. Now his nephew was much larger than he.

"I don't have any idea what I'm supposed to be looking for in these things," Ben said, rubbing his forehead. "I don't know what kind of power source you think Snoke is using. It could be anything."

"Well, you said his personal base is on Mustafar. Maybe it has something to do with lava," Rey suggested.

Ben shrugged. "I don't know. I don't see how lava could grant any special powers."

Luke settled onto the floor across from them and slid a stack of books towards himself. "From what your grandfather told me, Rey, my father was impaired in part because of that lava."

Rey cringed. "Ouch."

Luke spread more books out between the three of them, and together they began scanning the faded, hand-written titles: _Jedi Meditation, Legends of the Sith, Revan and Bastila, Force Trees, Form VI: Way of the Rancor, Blue Milk for Health, Surviving Kashyyyk, Raising a Force-Sensitive, Writings of the Jedi Order, Star Forges, The Clone Wars._

Rey lifted one of the books. "I guess all of these books aren't so ancient," she said, turning the cover towards Luke and Ben.

" _'Jedha Under Imperial Rule,'_ " Ben read. "Hm. Some of these aren't Jedi Journals either, Uncle."

"That's because I brought some of these with me to the island. That's one of them," Luke said, scratching his chin. His beard had begun to grow out again, as if it knew of his return to this place. "I was trying to figure out what had happened to all of the kyber that the Old Empire had collected."

"Wasn't it all destroyed with the Death Star?" Ben asked.

Luke shook his head. "That's not what I've read," he said. "Many journals I've read from Imperial spies claim that a massive store of the crystals was preserved somewhere in the Outer Rim."

"But, Luke, didn't you say that Snoke was from the Outer Rim?" Rey asked, tilting her head. "Do you think _he_ knows where these crystals are?"

"It's possible, but I don't see why he would..." Luke stopped himself, pausing to think. "Well. Actually…"

"Maybe he was in charge of protecting them," Rey theorized.

"Yes, that...that seems likely, now that I think about it," Luke mused.

Ben was examining the cover of _Revan and Bastila._ "Hm. I wonder what this one is about."

"Haven't read it," Luke said, annoyed by the halt in his train of thought. "Ben, are you paying attention?"

His nephew reluctantly set the book down and raised his eyebrows expectantly.

"Could these kyber crystals have anything to do with Snoke's power?" Rey continued.

"Well, sure, if there's enough of them," Luke said. He narrowed his eyes. "Actually, if I remember correctly, the ancient Sith used to use kyber to alter their powers." Rubbing his chin, he reached forward and sifted through the books between them with his free hand.

He shoved _Legends of the Sith_ into Ben's hands _._ "Go through this one. There might be information about kyber crystals somewhere in there. But kyber or not, I'd say that whatever method Snoke is using to manipulate the Force, it's from the Dark side."

"'Manipulate the Force?'" Rey repeated, and Luke nodded.

"Snoke seems to have managed to twist the Force, to bring it into a state of near-dormancy. It _has_ to be him. And I think he's been doing it progressively, for years," Luke said.

"But I still feel the Force," Ben said, raising a questioning eyebrow. "We all do."

"Yes, especially you and Rey, because of your bond and because you're both so naturally strong with it," Luke explained. "But for others, this is not the case. There seems to have been a halt in the number of Force-sensitives in the galaxy. Since I've been off the island, I've known it from word of mouth, but I've also sensed it. I even feel that my own powers have weakened, when they should have grown stronger over time..." he trailed.

"I don't understand why Snoke would want to make the Force dormant," Rey said. "I thought he wanted to use its power."

"He wants the power of the Force all to himself," Ben said, staring at Rey as he pieced together his thoughts. "So if he's making the Force dormant for everyone else…" He looked back down to his book and flipped through its pages.

"He may have managed to figure out how to access the Force in another way," Luke said.

"Look, I think I found a page on kyber crystals," Ben said, pointing down to the _Sith_ book. He began to read aloud:

 _But beware, for the power of kyber is great if gathered in large quantities. Members of the ancient Sith Order melted together masses of kyber, making them powerful enough to alter the Force at large. The Sith had found a way to shape the way the Force interacts with themselves and others._

Ben paused to make brief eye contact with Rey and Luke before continuing.

 _According to our Jedi legends, doing this can give one great control over the Force. It can be used to form Force Bonds, powerful connections between people of the Force._ _Amassed kyber crystals can be used for stranger purposes still, to manipulate the mind. Many a Jedi has fallen prey to this form of control, a Dark version of the Jedi Mind Trick. With this power, one is given the ability to reach into the mind and body of another and control their behavior while in direct contact with the kyber._

Ben paused and looked into Rey's wide eyes.

"That's exactly what he's done to you, Ben," she said. "Us," she correctly solemnly. "So he's been using these kyber crystals to get into our heads."

Luke rose to his feet to pace about the hut. "I should have read through all of this book, but I'd mainly stuck to reading the Jedi Journals while I was here alone. I never thought I'd see the day where I'd be going through Sith Journals to find my answers. Go on, keep reading," he urged.

 _Despite it usefulness, this great power drains great amounts of energy from the manipulator. Breaks must be taken depending on the age and stamina of the Dark Side user. Extreme mind manipulation requires long periods of recovery._

"This is all making perfect sense," Ben said.

"It's also making me realize just how much control Snoke has over the Force," Luke said, not bothering to hide the worry in his tone. "Keep going."

 _With great power comes a great toll on one's body and mind. Despite the usefulness of this power, many Sith had abandoned over the years, as it speeds bodily aging and shortens one's life._

"Snoke's ancient," Rey said, frowning in confusion. "And from what I remember, his body seemed mangled and old. Weak, even," she said, looking to Ben.

"You're right," Ben agreed.

"Snoke didn't tell you how he's managed to live for so long, Ben?" Luke asked.

Ben shook his head. "When I was his apprentice, I didn't dare to ask him a lot of questions."

Luke let out a long breath, a wave of anxiety flooding him as he studied his nephew. "If I had to guess, I don't think you would have lasted much longer with him had you started to."


	23. Chapter 23: Visions & Nightmares

Though it remained behind their Force shield on the island, there was a powerful presence in the Force. Luke knew they all felt it—it was unmistakable.

But as the days passed by, none of the three talked about it. Perhaps none of them wanted to say the name aloud, Luke thought, as if acknowledging his existence would materialize the Dark master out of thin air. They were secured behind layer upon layer of Force shields that they'd erected on their section of the island, but still, the presence was always there, always probing the edges of their shields, reverberating through the Force itself like a spider crawling ever closer on a taut web.

Luke knew they all understood that they couldn't remain hidden from Snoke forever. At some point, they would be found. All it would take would be one quick connection through the Force, one waver on the web, and he would close in on them.

….

Rey sliced back and forth in front of Ben, backing him toward the cliff's edge.

"Come on, Kylo!" she challenged, laughing.

Ben smiled and braced his saber against hers, keeping her at arm's length. His mouth pressed into a line as he stole a glance over his shoulder, realizing that he was only a few feet from the cliff's edge and the roiling water below. _That's a long way down,_ he thought.

"What, afraid of heights?" Rey teased.

Ben faced her again, planting his feet firmly into the grass. "I didn't say that," he scowled.

Rey laughed. "You don't have to say anything. It's all over your thoughts."

Ben shoved forward with his saber, sending Rey stumbling back a few steps.

"You _are_ afraid of heights," she realized. Ben caught his breath and watched her calmly as she sifted through his mind.

"And you're not?" he asked, gesturing to the cliff behind him.

Rey shrugged. "Well, of course I wouldn't want to fall off, but for years I propelled down from the ceilings of star destroyers back on Jakku. Heights aren't anything new for me." She bent over as she too caught her breath, resting her free hand on her knee.

"Why don't we call it quits for the evening," Ben suggested, disengaging his lightsaber and clipping it to the belt at his hip. He peered back over his shoulder at the remaining line of yellow-orange on the ocean's horizon. "We can go to bed early," he said flatly. Had they been alone on the island, he'd have been more excited to go to bed.

Rey rose and blew the hair from her face. "So we can what? Wake up early and walk circles around the island with Luke, as usual?" she asked, propping a hand on her hip.

Ben stepped toward her to brush the rest of the loose hair from her face. "I guess so," he admitted.

"That's all we've been doing for the past few weeks. That, and lightsabers," Rey said emptily.

Gently, Ben cupped her cheek. "There isn't much else we can do to pass the time, Rey," he said, locking eyes with her. "You know that."

Rey's eyes softened, and Ben leaned down and kissed her. Ben wrapped an arm around her middle, holding her close. Her lips were salty, whether from sweat or the briny sea air he wasn't sure. Rey's hand lifted to the side of his face, and as their lips slowly parted, they held each other's gaze. The rising wind blew strands of Rey's hair back across her forehead, and not for the first time, Ben felt dizzied by her beauty.

Ben's gaze suddenly grew hazy, and he narrowed his eyes at her. For just a moment, it appeared as if Rey were standing at the edge of a balcony, her hand extending out to him.

Ben blinked, stepping back, and the image was gone.

Rey frowned. "What's wrong, Ben?"

Ben stared at her, shaking his head. "Nothing," he said, raising his eyebrows. "I...I think I'm just tired."

Rey narrowed her eyes as she sorted through his mind. "You saw something."

"Well, yes. I saw _you._ For a second, I thought...it looked like you were...somewhere else," he trailed, shaking his head. He found himself unable to explain the feelings suddenly coursing through him.

"And?" she prompted, moving forward to press her hand to his chest. Her lips parted as she sensed his emotions. "It made you feel…"

"Good," he answered, studying her questioning eyes. "Almost...Hopeful." He cupped her face and kissed her again, allowing his feelings to flood through their bond. _I love you._

Rey responded in kind, her yearning bleeding through to him. She gripped onto the front of his coat, her fingers digging through the fabric as her lips moved with greater urgency. " _Ben,"_ she whispered as she paused for breath between kissing.

An icy breeze blew between them, and Rey shivered even as Ben wrapped his arms tighter around her. The chill of the night air was becoming intolerable.

"Let's go inside before you catch a cold," Ben decided, steering her towards the line of huts.

"I hate those huts," Rey muttered, shivering as she squeezed his hand. "I hate how old and fragile they are."

"Well...Rey, you know we can't be together out here, we'd freeze." Ben squeezed her hand back. He opened the door to the hut and ushered her inside first.

"I'm willing to try," Rey sighed, even as she lowered to the ground to bury herself in their blankets.

Ben folded his arms, smirking down at her as she wrapped the blankets tighter around herself. " _Sure_ you are."

…

A growing presence gathered itself around Rey. Before her were shooting stars and dark, swirling, stormy clouds. She felt dizzy, overwhelmed. Trapped.

She became aware of movement behind her, and she swirled around in the darkness. Her arms flailed as she struggled to steady herself.

"Rey," a deep, distorted voice called. It echoed down into her bones.

She focused on the voice, searching for it amid the cloudy atmosphere. "Who's there?" she probed. "Who are you?"

"You know who I am," the voice answered, garbled and distant. It lacked the deep tone of before, and there was a distinctness to it. A... _familiarity._

"Don't you remember?" the voice prodded.

Rey waited. A darkened figure, a silhouette began to take shape in the bustling clouds before her.

"It's me," the voice called, growing nearer.

Rey sucked in a breath. _No,_ she thought. _There's no way…_

"I've been trying to find you…"

"Who _are_ you?" she repeated, louder. The clouds around her moved faster.

"I'm here...sweetheart…" the voice trailed, lost to the sounds of the rumbling din.

Rey began to shake, feeling as if she were on the verge of tears. "How?" she began, but she struggled for words. "It can't be…"

"Of course it's me," the voice assured, a note of sweetness in his tone. The clouds around them began to slow. Rey saw a flash of tan fabric around the imaged before her, the edge of a robe billowing out.

 _Just as she remembered._

"F...father?" Rey squeaked.

"Yes, sunshine, it's me," he answered. "I need your help."

"Father, what...what happened to you?" she choked, her throat burning. She quickly scanned the area around him. "Where's mum?"

He paused. "She's here, too," he said, slowly gesturing to the space beside him.

Rey leaned forward, peering through the darkness, straining to see. A slightly smaller silhouette began to form near her father's, only a light lock of hair becoming visible to her eye.

"Mum?" Rey prompted, a tear sliding down her face.

The silhouette wavered but did not speak.

"She can't speak to you right now—it's too much for her. But she will, once we find you," her father assured. "We need your help, Rey."

"But—you're right here," Rey answered, confused. Slowly, she moved towards them. "Why can't I see you?" she called. No matter how she strained to see, the darkness surrounding her parents obscured them.

Her father's shape moved slowly closer, and with it came a distant chill. Rey stopped where she was.

"You have to tell us where you are, Rey, sunshine," her father said. "You've been lost from us for so long. Tell us where to find you."

Rey stared at the shapes of her parents, her eyes widening. There was an incompleteness to them, but it had been so many years since she'd seen them, perhaps she just couldn't recognize them. Maybe—maybe she just couldn't remember.

 _Rey?_

Her name sounded from somewhere else, somewhere _above,_ but she couldn't bring herself to tear her gaze from the approaching forms of her parents.

"Tell us, sweetheart," her father urged, moving quickly towards her now. He reached out his hand, and his voice grew deeper. "Tell us before it's too late."

 _Rey!_

The dark sphere around her and her parents began to churn and twist once again, but Rey planted her feet, managing to steady herself. "Father!" she called, reaching out to him. Maybe she would recognize him if she stood closer to him. She was almost to him, but—

 _No, Rey!_

Rey slowed and blinked, her face construing. _Ben?_

 _Rey! That's it, Rey, focus on me. Follow my voice._

"Tell us, Rey!" her father called. The rumbling of the clouds grew louder as they swirled and crashed like the untamed waves of Ahch-To, obscuring her view of her parents. "Where are you, sweeheart?" her father implored, his voice desperate. Rey's heart pulled in her chest.

"Father!" she yelled back, stumbling forward. "Father, mummy, I'm right here! Can't you see me? I'm right here!"

 _Rey, listen to me! Focus on me!_

"Sunshine, where are you?" her father yelled, his voice barely discernible above the growling clouds.

 _Please, Rey!_

"The island!" she squawked. "The island on Ahch-To!"

Suddenly, Rey's parents' silhouettes fizzled away into thin air, their forms shedding into dark dust. Rey lurched towards the area where they had just been, staring at her hand as the mist of their forms disappearing through her splayed fingers. The sphere around her shook and listed, and she fell to her knees, leaning onto her hands and elbows on the ground for support.

" _Kenobi,"_ a deep, unmistakable voice boomed.

Rey opened her eyes and shot up, gasping for breath.

A large, damp hand slid from her forehead, and she looked from the barren stone wall ahead to see Ben sitting at her side, staring at her.

"What happened? Rey, what did you tell him?" he implored, gripping her arm.

Rey looked down to the blankets, trying to process everything that she'd just experienced. In her state of shock, she found herself unable to formulate words.

"Rey, what did you see?" Ben asked, lowering his voice. He gently turned her face back towards his.

"My…" she began, her voice cracking. Her lower lip began to tremble as she met Ben's alarmed gaze. "I saw my…" She erupted into a sob and shut her eyes before she was able to finish. Ben pulled her into his chest, his arms enveloping her in a protective embrace. He stacked his head atop hers.

"Your parents," he answered knowingly, and she nodded into his chest.


	24. Chapter 24: Surrounded

Hello, do you remember me? Yes? Well, I'm here to clear the dust off of this story with a new chapter!

* * *

"They were right there," Rey choked, balling the fabric of Ben's shirt in her fist. "I almost made it to them, but— _Ben,"_ she sobbed, pressing her face into his chest.

Ben stroked her hair, holding her close. "Rey…"

"I couldn't make it," she lamented. "I wasn't fast enough…"

Ben held her at arm's length. "Rey," he sighed, cupping her face, "it wasn't them."

She blinked. "What?"

"Whatever you saw...those weren't your parents," he said, wincing.

Rey's brows pinched together as she stared at him. His dark eyes were heavy, serious. After a moment Rey staggered to her feet. "What are you saying?" she balked. "Of _course_ it was my parents, I _saw_ them," she asserted, her hands tightening into fists at her sides. Still, Ben did not appear convinced. "They were right there, _right_ in front of me!" she insisted, pointing ahead of where Ben sat before her.

Slowly, sorrowfully, Ben shook his head. "It wasn't them, Rey," he said. "They weren't real. What you saw were just...visions. Memories."

Rey narrowed her eyes. "I _saw_ them, Ben. I _spoke_ to my father! It was _his_ voice!"

"It wasn't real, Rey. It was _Snoke,"_ he intoned, lowering his brows.

Rey shook her head, disbelieving. "You're wrong," she deplored, taking a step back. "It was real, my parents are _real_ —and Snoke has them."

"No, Rey," Ben dissented. "He doesn't."

"You don't know that," Rey snapped.

Ben frowned. "Rey," he began, "your parents are _dead_. You know this."

Rey bit her lip, a strangled whimper rising from her throat. A desperate, gripping energy roiled within her. "You don't know what you're talking about. I _know_ what I saw," she maintained. "You have no idea! You're wrong!"

Ben's face fell. "Rey, please just listen to me, tell me—"

But all Rey could hear was the sound of her father's voice, just as she'd remembered it when he and her mother were leaving her on Jakku: _I'll come back, sweetheart. I promise._

Stumbling backwards, Rey shoved her way through the door and out of the hut. A mix of tears and drizzling rain washed across her cheeks as she sprinted through the night, away from Ben, from the huts, from everything. She rubbed her face on her arm as she raced through the dark, barefoot. The rain was icy and the grass slick, but she felt numbed to the surrounding elements.

"Rey!" she heard Ben's voice call out from behind her. Rey ignored him and kept going.

But as she soon heard the sound of crashing waves ahead, she slowed, realizing that she was nearing the cliff's edge. Exhausted and disoriented, she crumpled to her knees, her hands, grasping the frozen blades of grass between her fingers as she struggled to catch her breath. She remained in place as she heard the thudding splashes of Ben's boots grow nearer.

"Rey," Ben prompted as he slowed to a stop behind her. "Come back inside."

Rey peered over her shoulder and was only barely able to make out Ben's tall figure in the darkness. The soft rumble of distant thunder broke the silence between them. Rey lowered her head again and sniffled. "Go away," she groaned.

"No," Ben said flatly, crouching beside her. "Come here, you're going to freeze." He attempted to pull her towards him, but she swatted him away. "Are you even wearing shoes?" he asked.

"I want to be alone," Rey snapped, shifting to sit onto her bare heels. She swiped the rain and tears from her face.

Ben hesitated. "Rey, I'm sorry for what I said," he stated. "But it's the truth." He placed his hand on her shoulder. "Deep down...you know it."

Rey huffed out a breath, allowing her shoulders to sag. "He promised…" she breathed, staring down at the muddied ground. "He promised they would come back."

"I'm so sorry, my love," Ben consoled, lowering to his knees and pulling her into his embrace. He hastily wrapped his coat around her, shielding her from the rain. Rey realized she was shivering, and she was grateful for his warmth. She pressed herself into his chest, hugging him tightly. For a few long moments, they remained like this. She felt Ben pressing into her mind as he attempted to soothe her, filling her with calmness. Rey focused on the sounds of his breathing and the pit-pat of the light rain falling on the grass around them.

"I know what those dreams are like, Rey," Ben said amidst a distant peal of thunder. "I know how real they seem."

Rey lifted her face to his neck. "You've had dreams like this?" she asked, and she felt him nod.

"It's how Snoke managed to persuade me to stay with the First Order when I was young," he began. "He put images of my grandfather in my head at night—visions of how I perceived him, so they were familiar to me. When my grandfather appeared in my dreams, I thought I was really speaking to his ghost."

Rey was quiet for a moment as she let this sink in. "That's horrible," she sniffled.

"Rey," Ben began again, a quiver in his voice. "Did you say anything to him?"

Rey's mouth hung open. "Oh...what have I done?"

Ben sifted through her mind. "Oh, no," he breathed, and before Rey could speak again, she was being lifted and carried across the grass in his arms. "We need to get out of here, now, we need to get off of—"

"Sir!"

Ben swivelled around with Rey clasped to his chest, but Rey felt Ben's posture relax as they realized that it was one of his Knights approaching him from the line of huts. For the past few weeks, the knights had taken turns staying in the extra huts and managing the ship.

"Marcus?" Ben called.

"Sir, I just received word from Gregor through my datapad—our ship has picked up on an incoming craft," he announced, stopping before them. "It's headed this way."

"Already?" Ben asked, his voice distant. Rey's heartbeat increased twofold.

Ben shook his head in dismay. "Get the knights armored and assembled, and get the ship running—It's Snoke," he declared. "We need to be ready."

"Yessir," Marcus nodded, and sped back into the darkness.

"Could it really be _him?"_ Rey asked as Ben carried her back towards the huts. Ben's tension was palpable through their bond. Rey huffed out a breath, fighting back new tears as low thunder sounded above. "Ben, I'm so sorry, I—"

"It's not your fault, Rey," Ben asserted, frowning and glancing down at her. "Don't blame yourself. Snoke would have found us at some point, it was only a matter of time. We all knew it."

"But how did he get into my head with all of our Force shields on the island?" Rey questioned quietly.

Ben hesitated. "Because you let him in," he intoned. Rey considered this.

As they moved closer towards the dimly-lit huts, a faint, deep hum began to sound in the distance.

" _Kriff,"_ Ben swore, turning around.

"Let me down," Rey urged, kicking her legs and struggling from his embrace. She dropped onto her bare feet and watched the sky with him. In the distance, a glowing white star moved behind the clouds.

"That's no star," Ben observed, reading her mind.

Rey jolted as a bright shock of lightning blasted in the sky nearby.

"Go get Luke," Ben instructed, still watching the approaching ship. "Wake him and head down to the shuttle."

Rey scowled at Ben, forgetting that he couldn't see her expression in the darkness. "No," she retorted. She saw his face swivel down to hers.

"Rey, you need to get out of here. Now."

"I'm _not_ leaving your side," she asserted.

Ben made a gruff sound. "I wish you were still mad at me so you'd listen," he growled.

They both turned as the sound of the ship grew louder, its large, pointed form illuminated by its own exterior lighting. It was no star destroyer, but it was still a sizable craft.

Ben gripped Rey's shoulder. "Come on, let's go. _I'll_ wake Luke, you go get your boots and coat on."

Together, they sprinted towards the huts. Rey felt a pang in her chest as Ben veered to the side, towards Luke's hut. She didn't want to lose sight of him with danger so near, not even for a minute. Back in the hut, she hastily pulled on her boots and coat, yanking her hood over her head. She sped towards the door, then slid to a stop, realizing what she'd forgotten. She turned over her shoulder, extending her arm and calling her lightsaber into her grasp. "This would be helpful," she muttered.

Outside, Rey caught sight of Ben and Luke standing behind an old stone wall near the huts, watching the ship's approach to the island. She hurried to their side just as the ship began to lower at the far edge of the island. Their view of the ship was lost as it descended behind a large crag.

"They lowered their ship to the other side of the island, but they _had_ to have seen our huts," Luke said. "Looks like they're going to be strategic about this."

Shrill screeching cut through the sounds of the building rain and thunder.

"They've brought TIEs," Rey grimaced. The screams of the TIEs grew louder, and Ben shoved Rey lower behind the stone wall as a TIE soared not far from where they were crouched.

"Kriff, they're looking for us," Ben huffed. "The knights should be on their way up here to join the fight, just like they've been trained to do," Ben said, lowering his head and meeting Rey's eyes. "Just like we've been training to do."

The three of them looked up as two TIEs zipped across the sky ahead, shining spotlights out over the ocean.

Ben turned towards his uncle, wiping his soaked hair from his eyes. "Luke, listen to me. Take Rey down to the ship, I can handle this. They're here for _me."_

Rey shook her head. " _No,_ Ben, you know I'm not going to do that!"

"Ben, I'm not going to leave you to them. I've only just gotten you back," Luke said, reaching under his cloak to procure his lightsaber. "But I _will_ stall so you two can have a shot at making it down to the ship."

Ben and Rey shook their heads, about to protest, but Luke was already making a mad dash from behind their wall, igniting his green saber like a small beacon in the darkness.

"Luke, no!" Rey called, about to go after him, but Ben grabbed her arm, yanking her back behind the wall. "Let me go!" she squealed, trying to yank herself from Ben's grasp, but it was no use; his grip was firm.

"Rey, _look at me,"_ Ben urged, and she obliged.

"I'm not going to run away to the ship and leave Luke to face them all alone!" she insisted.

Ben nodded, considering her. "I know you're not," he said, cupping her cheek with his gloved hand. "I know."

To her surprise, he pulled her into a gentle kiss. "You know I love you," he breathed, staring gravely into her eyes.

He was scared, she realized, and so was she. Rey tried to push away Ben's desperate, anxious feelings and settle her own mind, but the thought occurred to her that these could very well be their last few moments together, just the two of them. Rey pressed her hand to Ben's cheek, and he leaned his face into her touch. For a brief moment, Rey thought she saw his face illuminated by the sun. She felt...still. Calmed.

The bright image suddenly fizzled away, however, and was replaced with something else. Something—darker. She saw Ben before her, the sky around them returning to night. Ben looked at her, and when she met his eyes, they were darker than she'd ever seen them. They weren't their usual deep hazel-brown, but an impenetrable, bottomless black. Startled, she stumbled back, landing with her legs folded beneath her. She stared up at him, searching his face. There was something very off about him.

It wasn't... _him._

"Ben?" she choked.

Ben loomed above her, a stark coldness in his obsidian eyes, a thin smile curling the corners of his mouth. A sneer.

"No," he replied, his voice free of intonation. "Kylo Ren."

Slowly, menacingly, he pulled his saber from his side and pointed it directly down at her. Rey stared up at him numbly as the crackling red plasma moved towards her. She couldn't will herself to move. She shut her eyes hard as she felt the heat of the blade inching closer, just a hair's breadth from the thin flesh of her neck—

"Please, no!" she pleaded, pressing her hands over her eyes. "Ben!"

"What's wrong?"

Rey pressed her hands tighter to her face, unable to meet that cold, ebon gaze. She felt Ben's fingers pry her own from her face.

"Rey, what happened?" he asked concernedly.

She blinked open her eyes, now only able to see Ben's silhouette again against the night sky. She pulled her hands from his and crawled backwards, away from him. He moved towards her, but she swatted him away.

"Stop!" she urged, scrambling to her feet. She held a hand before her. "Get back!"

Ben stopped, looking at her palm warily. "Rey, it's _me,"_ he asserted, reaching out a helping hand.

"Don't touch me!" she snapped.

"He's still in your head, isn't he?" Ben realized, his shoulders sagging. "Kriff. Rey, it's me, _Ben._ What is Snoke doing to you?" he shook his head.

Rey let out a long breath, lowering her hood and running a hand through her slick hair as she came to. "I must have had another vision," she realized, her heart pounding.

"What did you see?" Ben asked, crouching before her.

"I saw—you," she began, but they both scrambled to their feet as a TIE suddenly veered towards them. "Watch out!" Rey yelled, and they both dove out of the way as the craft shot a blast just yards from where they had been standing.

"Over here!" Luke yelled, and Rey pushed up on her elbows to see him standing across from her on the muddied plain, waving his saber over head. "Come and get me!"

"Luke, no!" Rey yelled, getting to her feet. She ignited her saber and sprinted towards him as she heard the TIE circling back. She slid to a stop, shielding her face with the central staff of her saber as the TIE shot between her and Luke, spraying mud and earth into the air.

"Rey, watch out!" Ben called from behind her.

As she lowered her saber, a red blaster bolt shot cut through the air directly in front of her, and she stumbled back. She swiveled to the right to catch a glimpse of a large squadron of black stormtroopers marching over the hill towards them, illuminated briefly by the spotlight of a passing TIE.

Rey raised her saber just in time as another blaster bolt was fired at her. A second TIE passed over the stormtroopers, its beam lighting up the troopers and then herself.

"Death Troopers," she heard Ben say from behind her. "Shield yourself, Rey!"

A barrage of blasts fired upon her, and Rey yelped as she swung the ends of her saber up, down, and around to block them. She struggled to keep her balance in the slick mud.

"Keep at it! Plant your feet!" Luke instructed, moving closer to her as he parried shots with his own saber.

A shot landed in the mud just before her boots, and Rey instinctively leapt back from the blast, her boots slid out from under her and she landed hard on her back in the mud. She watched with wide eyes as Ben suddenly leapt before her, thrusting a gloved palm out towards the troopers and releasing a hot stream of red-orange color. _Fire,_ Rey realized as she watched the troopers before them stumbling back from the Force flames.

For a second, Ben looked at her over his shoulder at her. "Get up, Rey!" he urged.

Rey scrambled back to her feet and rushed to Ben's side, her saber at the ready as she watched the flames quickly dissipate in the rain. As she fought back the blasts from another nearing pack of troopers, the shining gleam of dark plastic caught in her peripheral vision as a TIE passed over the ground to their side.

"Ben! There's more coming from the left!" she exclaimed.

"I'll fend them off," Luke announced, and to Rey's surprise, he sprinted towards them, his long brown cape flowing behind him in the wind and rain. With a swipe of his arm, Luke sent the front lines of the approaching troopers back over the hill from which they had just appeared. "And stay there!" Luke yelled.

Forcing herself to recall her own Force move that she'd used on the pilots on Storia, Rey turned back towards the troopers at her and Ben's front and planted one foot firmly before the other. With one hand, she held her saber before her, twisting it to shield herself from the troopers' blasts. She felt compelled to close her eyes for a moment, to channel the Force within her. In her mind's eyes, she saw the fragmented forms of her parents, just as she'd seen them in her dream. She was filled with the desperate desire to free them from Snoke's control—she _knew_ he had them, somewhere.

Reopening her eyes, Rey thrust her free hand before her, feeling the Force channel out through her palm like a rush of hot water and watching as it formed a brilliant blue beam. The troopers in front of her flew back, high into the air and out of sight, their garbled, mechanical voices fading away.

"Good going Rey! But more behind you!" Luke yelled, running back towards Rey and Ben. "Stars, they just keep coming!"

"Over there! The Knights!" Rey exclaimed, pointing to their right. Ben's Knights were fighting their way through the troopers, some of whom had turned their blasters away from Rey, Ben, and Luke to fight back against the warriors. Rey watched for a moment as the Knights' long staffs and swords were illuminated in the light from a TIE soaring overhead.

Rey and the others leapt aside as the TIE veered towards them, shooting a blast into the mud where they'd just stood. Rey watched as Ben, seething, jumped back onto his feet and extended his hand out toward the TIE, bringing it down from the sky with a yanking motion of his arm. The earth beneath their feet shuddered as the TIE crashed into the mud, on top of a group of troopers.

The three of them managed to scramble behind a large rock as the rest of the troopers reorganized.

"Where'd they go?" Rey heard a trooper's garbled voice question.

"They're surrounding us," Ben observed, keeping his voice low. He chanced a glance over their rock, and as he did, a blast shot towards them. "Kriff!" he swore, ducking back behind the rock.

"Over there!" a trooper's robotic voice sounded.

Luke jumped out from behind the rock and swiped his arm out before him, sending the group of nearing troopers flying back. Just as he did, however, he let out a yelp and stumbled backwards. Ben tried to stop her, but was too late as Rey ran out from behind the rock to grab Luke's coat, keeping him from falling down into the mud. She kept her saber before her, trying to shield them from other blasts as she helped Luke to regain his balance.

"Got me in the leg," Luke muttered, leaning over to catch his breath. "I'm not as agile as I once was...If I'm being honest, Rey, I'm not sure how much longer I can keep this up."

"No, Luke, you'll make it. We'll all make it!" Rey insisted, though deep in her heart, she wasn't so sure.

"Luke, are you okay?" Ben asked worriedly, rushing over to them.

Luke ignored Ben's concern and stared at Rey, gripping her arm. "You and Ben need to get to the ship, those troopers are just going to keep coming until they have us," he said, pushing her away. "Go!"

"No, I'm not going!" Rey protested.

"We're not going to leave you," Ben maintained.

Luke wiped the rain from his face, staring at the both of them for a moment. "At least move to the left, away from the troopers, will you?"

Rey scrunched her face. "What?"

"Do it, now!" Luke urged, and Rey immediately listened, never before having heard Luke raise his voice to her in that way. Ben, too, moved away from Luke, closer to her. "I love you kids," Luke said, and to Rey's surprise, he smiled at them.

"Luke—" Ben began, but was swiftly cut off. In a lightning-fast motion, Luke flung his arm out at them, and the next thing Rey knew, she was on her back and sliding through the mud.

Rey shrieked as she tumbled down a long, wet shoot of water and mud, down and away from the mountaintop. Her hooded coat came undone from around her as she tried to grab onto leaves, bushes, anything along the sides of the mudslide to stop her slide down the steep hill, but nothing within grasp would hold her weight.

"Rey! Grab hold!" she heard, and she swiveled her head to see Ben sliding along side her, his wrapped arm outstretched.

Rey managed to grab his hand and he pulled her closer to him as they continued to slide down the mud shoot on their backs. Soon, the mud beneath them began to thicken, and Rey was forced to let go of Ben's hand as they tumbled out onto a flat plain of grass near a cliff.

Rey spat the mud from her mouth and heard Ben do the same as they slowly got to her feet in the dim light of early dawn. The sounds of the crashing waves below were loud, and a chilly breeze carried up from the water. As she surveyed their surroundings, Rey narrowed and then widened her eyes as she caught sight of a small, faint light below.

"The ship!" she exclaimed, pointing down the slope and looking to Ben. But her excitement immediately abated as she remembered that it was just the two of them now. Her shoulders dropped as she turned to look back up the top of the mountain from which they'd slid down. "I can't believe he did that," Rey huffed. "We can't just leave him."

"We can't get back up the hill in this rain, either, with the mudslides," Ben said, moving towards her. "I don't want to leave Luke, either, but..." He sighed, looking down a moment. "Rey, our only choice is to make it down to the ship. Then we can try to fly to the top and get him."

If he'd made it, neither of them said.

Rey nodded with a sigh, sensing that this was painful for Ben too. "Okay. Then let's go."

As they began to zig-zag down the steep hill, Rey felt at her hip. She realized that she must have lost her saber when she slid down the hill.

"This is going to take forever—where are the stairs?" Rey wondered, looking around them. The glimmer from the ship's outside light remained tiny, indicating that they still had a long way down.

"It's too dark to really see them," Ben said, taking her hand.

"We're never going to make it in time to save Luke," Rey bemoaned, on the verge of tears, and Ben pulled her into a hug.

"Have hope, Rey," Ben said. "You know he's been through worse before. He'll make it." But Rey sensed that Ben's worry matched her own.

Rey stepped out from Ben's embrace as the screech of a TIE grew steadily louder. The two of them watched, slowly stepping backwards as it soared from around the curve of the mountain to their side and out over the open ocean. The TIE shined its spotlight, illuminating the line of the rocky coast below.

"They're searching for us again," Rey noted amidst a low peal of thunder.

"Or—the ship!" Ben blurted, just as the TIE's spotlight caught on their shuttle parked on its low rocky outcropping. They watched in despair as the TIE circled around and fired at the ship. Rey grabbed Ben's arm as the ship exploded into flames and flying chunks of metal.

They both managed to jump aside as a red blaster bolt shot suddenly shot at them from out of the darkness.

"Where did that come from?" Rey yelped, and another shot fired towards them.

Ben whipped out his lightsaber and ignited it, meeting the second blast with the sparking plasma of his saber's blade. Rey watched as he remained in place in front of her a moment, stock-still. " _Thrawn,"_ he growled. "I knew it was him."

Another few blasts shot at them, and Ben parried them deftly.

"Stop! All _stop!"_ a male voice called angrily. "I told you to corner them, not _kill_ them..."

Ben kept his saber extended in front of Rey in a protective gesture as a uniformed blue alien stepped out from behind a crag before them, along with several Death Troopers.

Ben and Rey remained silent as Thrawn casually made his way towards them, his troopers flanking him. Thrawn smiled across at Ben as if he were an old friend he'd happened across.

"Kylo Ren," the alien greeted. "Good to see you're well. But, I'll admit, I'm surprised the Order of Organa didn't kill you off," he remarked, gesturing for his troopers to stop behind him. Ben never lowered his hissing saber as the man spoke. "Let's face it, over the years you became more and more useless to our side. So forgive me if I'm shocked that the _Resistance_ found it useful to spare your life, after all you've done," Thrawn chuckled.

"Where's Snoke?" Ben snapped.

"That reminds me," Thrawn said, rubbing his chin. "The Supreme Leader has apparently come up with a good use for you."

"Snoke isn't going to _use_ me anymore," Ben seethed. "And if he doesn't show himself, I'll drag him out of his ship myself," he hissed, pointing his crackling saber toward Thrawn.

Thrawn raised his eyebrows mockingly. "Bold words from someone who has _so much_ to lose," he commented, looking knowingly between Ben and Rey. "But I'll have you know, the Supreme Leader didn't feel like joining us on this excursion."

Rey sensed relief in Ben, but he held his ground, keeping his saber before her.

Thrawn's mouth spread in a thin, oily smile. "Is your scavenger girl mute? What a pity," he drawled, looking back to Ben. "I guess you'll have to speak for the two of you then. We can do this the easy way, or the hard way. Easy way, you two come with me and no one gets hurt."

" _No,"_ Rey hissed, moving Ben's arm and saber out of the way to stand beside him.

Thrawn raised his eyebrows. "She _does_ speak. My bad. Well, then, scavenger girl, would you like to do things the hard way? I'd advise against that. I'm afraid things won't end... _well_ for you," he said, motioning with his hand behind him. More Death Troopers began making their way out from behind the crags all around Thrawn, aiming their weapons at Ben and Rey. Rey scooted closer to Ben as she realized that more troopers were appearing from behind rocks on both of their sides. They were completely surrounded, save for the area directly behind them, where the base of the mudslide met the overhanging cliff edge.

Thrawn yawned. "I'd really like to do this the easy way, if you don't mind. I'll take less time, and I have things to do," he drawled. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black device. "We're still very high up, if you haven't realized," he said, nodding to the ocean behind them.

"Thrawn, give up the act. Tell your squadron to drop their weapons before I destroy them, and you," Ben threatened. "Not that the Empire would miss you, you're merely Snoke's new pawn."

Thrawn shifted, visibly struggling to hide his anger. "Hmm. The hard way, then, is what I'm hearing? Destroying me will be hard to do when you're..distracted." He turned towards Rey. "Tell me, you grew up in a _desert,_ didn't you?"

Suddenly, with a deafening rumble, the ground beneath Rey gave way, and she was on her stomach. The air was whipped from her lungs as she was slipping, sliding, then weightless, free-falling, down from the cliff's edge. Her stomach rose to her throat in a strangled scream as the wind roared in her ears and she caught sight of the enormous, angry waves below.

* * *

Poor Rey! You guys knew this was coming, right? I kept trying to emphasize the waves and the ocean in the last few chapters while our characters have been on Jakku. If _The Last Jedi_ doesn't feature a cliff falling scene with Rey, well, at least our story here will.

What do you guys think of the new images and leaks from The Last Jedi? (Or have you been staying away from spoilers?) Kylo Ren/Ben Solo is looking ready for a redemption arc. And the porgs are pretty darn cute too.

Thanks for reading! As always, I really do appreciate you guys's patience, so thanks for sticking around. And I always love reading the comments! They keep me motivated.

I promise this story only has a few more chapters and it'll be over, I never meant for it to get so long and complicated and I've definitely gotten frustrated with it...But, it is what it is, and I still have fun writing it.


	25. Chapter 25: New Lows

Hello, all! I think it's about time we got off Ahch-To, don't you? Let's dig back into the story!

* * *

"No, _Rey!"_ Ben hollered, clambering to the remaining edge of the cliff. He slid to a stop at its brink, seeing only the powerful waves crashing against the stone face far below. No one would be able to swim through those waters, much less someone who'd never learned how to swim.

 _Rey!_ He called through the Force, but there came no answer. Wasting no time, Ben tore off his coat, tunic, and boots, leaving only his armguards and their connective strap.

"No! Stop him!" Thrawn ordered from behind, and Ben shoved his arm out behind him with a snarl in an attempt to send them all flying back.

 _Ben! I can't_ —

 _I know, I'm coming, Rey!_ He thought. Gritting his teeth, Ben kept his eyes on the horizon and launched himself from the cliff's edge.

Just as he leapt into the frozen air, a sharp blast made contact with his upper arm, and he let out a groan. Gripping his arm in midair, he finally looked down at the furious, roaring waves as he tumbled downwards before the cliff face. The sea air shooting into his face and bare torso felt like a barrage of icicles.

As his body tilted upside-down, Ben tried reaching his arms overhead to brace his impact with the water. He managed to choke in a breath just before he was enveloped in the icy oceanic tomb.

Ben opened his eyes to deep, dark blue, too dark to see anything but the faintest streams of dawn light filtering through the surface between the passing waves above. He thrust his arms out hard to swim towards the light, but let out a bubbling yelp as sharp pain shot down his right shoulder and arm. His chest shrunk in towards his spine with crushing weight as the air shot out of his lungs, and he swam desperately towards the surface with his left arm, keeping his right held close to his side.

 _Ben..._

As he breached the surface, Ben gasped for air, managing to choke out Rey's name. He felt her presence near, but could not place where she was in the liquid void. He swirled in place, searching for her head amongst the waves. He was forced to duck back underneath only moments later as a thick wave passed by.

His body was shaking, he realized, whether from the chill of the water or the adrenaline of the fall, he was not sure. Likely, both. The rapid thudding of Ben's heartbeat made him feel heavier in the water, weaker, and he feared that he'd drown before he ever managed to find Rey.

But as he breached the surface again, catching his breath, his fear quickly channeled itself into fierce resolve. "Rey? _Rey!"_ he called, projecting his voice across the water. He felt for her again through the Force and dove to his side as he sensed her there. Another thundering wave approached, and he dove under, arcing his left arm before him as he propelled himself towards Rey's Force presence. As he resurfaced, he caught a glimpse of a splash just ahead of him.

Ben paddled madly towards Rey, ignoring the burning in his right arm as he swam with both arms towards her. He dove forward, managing to grip the cloth of her blouse, and yanked her into his embrace. He shoved her above the surface of the water.

"Rey, breathe! Look at me," he urged, holding her face before his. Her eyelids drooped, and a soft groan came from her quivering mouth, blue from the cold. He positioned her over his shoulder and hooked his right arm around her, paddling with his left. "Hold onto me, Rey!" he instructed, but her shivering form was nearly limp against him as he paddled back towards the cliff face.

Ben looked over his shoulder as he caught sight of an approaching wave behind them, the silvery white of its forming crest catching in the rising dawn light. "Hold your breath, Rey! Hold on!" he yelled, and pulled her under with him. He thrust her above him as soon as the wave passed, holding her tightly as she coughed and sputtered. "That's it, _breathe,_ Rey!"

Ben paused in his swimming as he watched the recent wave smash against the cliff face. He would need to find them some other place to climb ashore—but where? With only the formidable cliffs in view, Ben hugged Rey tighter against his shoulder, chose a direction, and pressed on.

He kept a wide berth from the cliffs to avoid being swept up with the waves as they crashed against the stone cliffs. He swam hard, never breaking his pace despite the singe of his arm as he pulled Rey along through the water. He hissed in pain with each stroke, but he didn't let it slow him. _Couldn't_ let it. Not if he was going to save them both from hypothermia.

"Rey, stay awake," he urged. "Hold onto me." But all he heard was the chattering of her teeth.

….

Ben did not know how much time had passed when at last he came across a rocky beach, but the sun had risen well above the horizon and broken through the clouds. The ocean and the island with it were bathed in a soft, post-rain glow.

Ben moaned with pain and utter exhaustion as he struggled to his feet in the bouldered shallows, needing both arms now to carry Rey out of the frozen sea. His legs and arms shook as he brought her up onto the shore peppered with multi-colored pebbles. "Rey," he panted as he lowered to his wobbling knees. Gingerly, he laid her onto the pebbles, his heart rising to his throat as he saw her closed eyelids and bluish face in the sunlight. He gripped her shoulder, jostled it as he leaned over her. "Rey," he uttered, more urgently. She was breathing, but only shallowly. Willing the last of his energy, he pressed repeatedly on her chest with his good arm.

 _Help me,_ he thought, begged, reaching out through the Force to—he didn't who. He hunched over her as he pumped her chest, shutting his eyes hard for a moment to fight back tears. His right arm hung at his side, numb and useless. _Please, give me the strength. Give me the strength to save her._

He lowered to Rey's mouth, pushing his air into her body and feeling her chest rise beneath his.

He rolled off of her, letting out a weak huff of relief as she abruptly coughed, ejecting water from her mouth. Ben sat up to pat Rey's back, helping her to rid her lungs of the seawater. With eyes heavy and mouth agape, Rey looked at him. Ben laid back and pulled her onto his chest, holding her to him with his good arm as they both panted.

Rey pressed her cheek against his bare chest, draping her left arm weakly across him. Every muscle in Ben's body pulsed with soreness and sharp pain, and he felt cold, colder even than he'd been in the ocean, and he held Rey tighter against him as they both slipped out of consciousness.

….

Rey's eyes blinked heavily open as she felt her body lifted from the ground. She heard a deep, low groan above her. Ben.

She licked her lips, still stiff from the cold of the sea. "Wh...where…?" she began.

"To find Luke," he panted.

Rey shivered against his chest, barely able to keep her tired eyes open as he carried her up a series of steep rocks. Ben moved slowly, nearly tripping several times, and she wrapped her arms around him to keep steady. As the sounds and scents of the shore grew muted, Rey's senses picked up on something metallic and sickly-sweet.

"Y-you're injured," she realized, searching for the source of the blood. Ben merely grunted in response. "Wh-what happened?"

"S'fine," he mumbled, shifting her against his arm. But not more than five steps later, he stumbled again, barely keeping them both from falling.

"Ben, what's wrong?" she questioned, sliding from his grasp. Her legs felt wobbly and weak as they hit the ground, and she coughed, finding her chest sore. She watched as Ben lowered to a knee, face lowered. "Oh, no….Ben," she breathed as her eyes catching on the bright red soaking through the fabric of one of his arm guards. "Let me see," she urged, moving towards him, but he turned away, shielding his injured arm with the other.

"Leave it," he said, shaking his head. He attempted to stand back up, but his legs gave way and he lowered to his knee again.

"Ben, j-just let me heal you," she pressed, moving closer again, but he frowned up at her.

"No, you're too weak" he protested, keeping her at arm's length with his good arm. "You'll use up all of your energy," he panted. "It's too dangerous."

"But you're so pale," she noted, leaning around him and clenching her throat as she saw the trail of blood he'd left behind. She made a small choking sound. "Ben, I'm got to find L-Luke so he can help, okay?" She lowered, her legs wobbling. She cupped his jaw in her hand and kissed him. His lips were cold. "I'll be right back. J-just—stay right here."

"Rey…" Ben began but appeared unable to protesting as he shut his eyes and slowly lowered to the ground to rest. His placidity worrying her, Rey began making her way up the hill.

Finding her body too weak to run, Rey walked with long strides as she stepped over rocks and shrubs on her way up the hill. Would she even find Luke at the top? She hadn't even heard anything since she and Ben had made it out of the water—had the Empire fighters left?

Rey thought she heard the click of metal, and she flipped around in her tracks. Behind her, she only saw boulders. _I'm just being paranoid,_ she thought. She turned back around, and froze.

"Pleasure running into you again."

….

" _Ben."_ A jostle. "Kriff. Ben, wake up, kid, come on."

Ben opened his eyes to a pair of brown boots on grass, and shifted his gaze up to his uncle's scrunched face.

"Kriff, kid," Luke huffed, placing his hand on Ben's cheek. "You aren't in good shape. Come on, you have to get up. You have to drink."

Ben's mind was a whirls as he tried to push himself up from the ground. His arms were too weak, and he let out a groan. Luke lifted him up from his shoulders, and Ben hissed as pain shot up his right arm.

"Sorry, sorry. But you have to sit up. Kriff, kriff."

Gritting his teeth, Ben allowed his uncle to help him up into a seated position. His ears were ringing, his head pulsing. He blinked, hard, his gaze barely able to focus on his uncle's face. He felt his uncle push a cup against his mouth, and slowly, he drank.

"Mm. This doesn't look good," Luke stated, gingerly shifting the loosened wraps over Ben's arm wound. "You've lost a lot of blood. Too much. Here, hold still."

Ben grimaced as his uncle lifted his injured arm and began wrapping something around it. He groaned, his head bobbing weakly to the side as his uncle fashioned a tourniquet with a strip of cloth above his wound. "Luke…" he hissed.

"Sorry, it had to be done." Luke squeezed his good shoulder reassuringly.

"Luke...Rey?" he panted, leaning over onto an elbow and managing to look up at his uncle. Luke's mouth shut tight, leaving his mouth a thin line.

"I...couldn't find her."

Ben took in a shaking breath and slumped onto the ground as his consciousness slipped from him again.

…

Ben's mind was wild with dreams, visions. He felt as if he were tossing and turning as he saw flashes of colors billowing before him like drapes.

He felt something underneath his head, cradling it. An arm? _You're a dad._ His mother's voice, unmistakably. _Just think, hotshot. Someday you might even be a granddad._ Ben strained to focus his mind, to listen.

 _Speak for yourself, sweetheart._ His father's voice, now, he realized with a pang. _I ain't ever getting that old._

A swirling greyness formed before him as the vision shifted into something else.

 _Ben, what are you doing?_ His father again. Around him, small toys and objects floated through the air. _Where did you learn to do that? C'mere, kiddo._ A smile flashed across his father's young face. This was a memory, not a vision, Ben realized. He had the sensation of being lifted and was filled with a childish joy. _Think you can do that when you're grown, so I don't have to go around carrying heavy things when I'm an old?_ Han beamed at him, his head tilting as he looked up at his son. _You want to go around with me on the Falcon one day, don't you?_ Ben heard a high-pitched giggle. A child's. His. _I'll teach you how to fly it. Believe it or not, your daddy made the Kessel Run in 12 parsecs. Hey, maybe one day, with your help, I'll even be hauling rathtars. Flying and smuggling runs in your blood, Benny boy. Don't you forget that._

 _Ben,_ a soft voice chimed. His father's face faded away, and he swivelled around in place, searching. _Ben,_ the voice called again. He calmed as he turned to see a woman in a long dress standing before a balcony rail. Ben's heart swelled as she turned her face and smiled at him, her eyes sparkling.

 _Where are we?_ He asked her.

Rey extended a hand out toward him, her smile brilliant. _Come here, Ben,_ she invited. _Come see._

Ben moved toward her, reaching out to take her hand, but to his frustration the vision swirled into greyness again before their hands met.

As the vision swirled away, Ben saw three circles. Small circles. Two brown, one straw yellow. The shapes wouldn't come into focus, and he stared at them, trying to discern what it was he was looking at. As he stared, something unfathomably powerful tugged in his chest. He instinctively reached out to them, but they swiftly faded away into nothingness.

A soft whiteness took place before him. Slowly, he became aware of his body, prone. He flexed his fingers.

"He's coming to," a male voice said. He remembered this voice. Hurried footsteps scuffed against hard flooring.

"Good thing Leia isn't here to see him like this," Luke said quietly.

"Kylo Ren, can you hear me?" The other voice spoke.

"Don't call him that, his name's Ben," Luke said.

"Sorry, you're right. Ben, can you hear me?"

Slowly, Ben blinked his eyes open. His vision was hazy, and it took a few long moments for everything to come into focus. "What...where...am I?" he exhaled. A man's face came into focus—Rey's friend. The one he'd fought on Starkiller. FN-2187. Finn.

Shutting his eyes again to process this, Ben felt incredibly weak, and a bit cold. Was he laying on metal?

"I'm here, Ben," his uncle assured, stepping into his line of vision as he reopened his eyes. Ben stared up at his uncle, noting a series of scratches marking his face.

"Where...are we?" Ben tried again. He turned his head to the side, wincing at the sting in his neck and right shoulder.

"We're on the Falcon, Ben," Luke said above him.

Ben narrowed his eyes as a tall brown creature came into view behind his uncle. "Chewie?" he rasped. The wookie gave an acknowledging grumble back.

"Chewie, why are you here?" he asked, blinking confusedly. Was this another vision?

"He carried you here. Maker knows I'm not strong enough to do that," Luke said.

Ben attempted to sit up, but stopped as his head throbbed and pain shot through him.

"Keep still, kid, it's best if you just stay where you are," Luke said, raising his eyebrows concernedly.

His right arm throbbed, and he hissed. He turned his face to the right, and as his vision came into focus again his eyes widened. His right arm was an unrecognizable, mangled mess of exposed bone and bloodied tissue. He tried to lift the arm, but he couldn't lift it. Only his fingers responded. He stared at his arm as it lay limply at his side on the metal table. "Kriff...Kriff," he panted, beginning to panic.

"Breathe, breathe," Luke instructed. "It'll heal, it'll just—" He sighed. "It's going to take time. We need to get you to a bacta tank as soon as we get back to Trora."

Ben narrowed his eyes, looking up at his uncle. " _Trora?"_ he repeated, taken aback. "But we were just—" He cut himself off, the memories of the past day resurging through his mind. The stormtroopers, Thrawn, Rey— _Rey!_

"Where's Rey?" Ben insisted, flipping his head around to scan the room. "Where is she?"

Luke placed his hand on Ben's chest. "Ben, I need you to calm down, we're going to figure it all out—"

" _Where is she?"_ Ben pressed, looking to Chewie and Finn for answers. Then he remembered. She'd gone off to look for Luke. "Oh, no," he exhaled, his heart rising to his throat. "What happened?"

"Ben, you need to calm yourself, you've lost a lot of blood," Luke said. "We've already got the Trora fleet going after Rey, they're going to get her back. They were tracking the Empire ships, and that's how they knew to come to Ahch-To. They knew we'd need their help."

"'Get her back?'" Ben repeated. He shook his head, staring up at the ceiling in shock. His eyes back shot to his uncle. "Why are we going to Trora? Turn around, Luke, we have to go back!" he exclaimed.

"Ben, we can't, we need to heal your arm. You need to go to a hospital," Luke said, and Chewie whined in agreement. "There's nothing you can do right now, Ben."

"No, no, turn around," Ben pleaded. Groaning, he forced himself up with his good arm, feeling an immediate rush of dizziness.

"Ben, lay back down," Luke insisted, pushing on his chest, but Ben shoved him away with his good arm.

"Turn this ship around or I'll do it myself," Ben threatened, glaring around at the other three.

Luke held his hands out in supplication. "Ben, listen to me. You're weak and your arm is useless, it would keep you from being able to do anything to help her," he explained.

Grimacing, Ben looked back down at his mangled limb, his chest heaving. He concentrated again on moving it, again finding that he could only barely move his fingers. He swallowed.

"Then cut it off," he said.

Chewie gave a surprised growl, and Luke's eyebrows raised.

"What?" Luke asked.

"You heard me," Ben said, furrowing his brows. "Cut it off."

"No, Ben, it can heal with time," his uncle insisted. "You just need to get back—you just need time."

"I don't have _time,"_ Ben hissed, shaking his head. "Luke, I _have_ to go back for Rey, or she isn't going to make it. You said it yourself, my arm's useless. _Cut it off."_

Luke and Finn looked horrified.

"Ben, I can't _do_ that," Luke insisted.

Ben frowned and looked to Chewie. "Come on, Chewie, it would be easy for you. I know you've ripped out arms before," he said, but the wookie whined and shook his head, backing away.

Ben slammed his good fist onto the table. Would he have to try and do it himself? On the verge of panic, Ben looked to Finn pleadingly. "Finn," he panted. " _Please."_

Finn's eyes widened. "I'm not going to chop off your arm," he dissented.

Ben thought for a moment, recalling their duel on Starkiller. "I sliced up your back. Yeah, you remember that. Now's your chance to get back at me," Ben said, but Finn shook his head.

"But Rey—" Finn began.

"Will be saved if you do this," Ben finished. "Finn, I deserve this. You know I do. It would only be right if you do it."

Finn swallowed, looking to Chewie and Luke, who stared blankly back at him. Finn turned his gaze back to Ben's and sighed. "He's right."

"Right? How?" Luke asked, narrowing his eyes.

"We need to go back for Rey," Finn said, looking back to Ben. "All of us." After a moment, he turned to Chewie. "Can you find me a knife of some kind?"

Chewie released a long, disturbed sound and shuffled out of the room. _I'm not going to be a part of this._

"Master Luke, I managed to find some medical supplies, even a tourniquet, and—oh, goodness me! If young master Ben hasn't awoken!" C3PO exclaimed as he stepped into the room carrying a tray of tools and antiseptics.

"Threepio," Ben murmured in greeting, his attention catching at the droid's red arm. What had happened to _his_ arm?

"Finn! We aren't really doing this, are we?" Luke exclaimed. He frowned sternly at Ben. "And once your arm's off, what do you expect to do then? You'll only have one arm to fight with, that won't be any good."

"Master Ben's arm is coming off?" Threepio questioned confusedly, his head swivelling between the two of them. He turned to Finn for explanation, but Finn just threw up his hands. "I believe I have missed that conversation."

Something in Ben's mind clicked. He stared at threepio, then looked over at Luke and Finn.

"You weren't just a fighter and a sanitary technician in the First Order, were you, Finn?" Ben asked.

Finn shook his head. "No, I worked for a while in the medical ward too, but—no, you're crazy!"

"What? Oh, _Maker,_ surely you don't mean—how would we..." Luke looked back at C3PO, and Ben and Finn did the same.

The droid looked between the three of them, lost. "What's going…I don't..." He lowered his head, following the three's gaze. "Oh, dear. Not again."


	26. Chapter 26: First Order of Business

_All is still. The night is dark, and the road is empty. A single tumbleweed blows lazily across the pavement, and in the distance, the lonely cry of a wolf is heard. But now–the earth is shaking, the sky is rattling, the road is cracking, and–what's this? What's that falling down from the sky? It's something no one here thought they'd ever see again–it's a bird, it's a plane, it's–it's **a new chapter!**_

* * *

Rey blinked awake, her eyes growing round as she didn't recognize her surroundings. She immediately looked down at her wrists as she found them trapped. Metal cuffs gripped her forearms, and as she attempted to jostle her legs, she realized her ankles were in the same predicament.

 _Ben..._ she thought, drowsily. _Where are you?_

She closed her eyes hard, the side of her forehead throbbing. She wished she could attempt to rub the pain away. Opening her eyes again, she took in her surroundings: metal shelving, buckets, and containers. It appeared that she was in a storage room of some kind. Her gaze caught on a white, bulbous object: a stormtrooper's helmet.

So she _had_ been captured. But where was she?

 _Rey? Is that really you?_

 _Ben!_ She smiled as she sensed his thoughts in her head. _I don't know where I am. I-I don't know what happened–_

 _It's okay, we're coming to get you,_ Ben replied hastily.

' _We?'_

 _We're planning it out now, as soon as I can–_ Ben seemed to cut himself off, his thoughts pouring into her mind. _Rey, I know where they're taking you._

 _And that is?_ Rey questioned, shivering and rolling her sore shoulders back against the cold metal chair she was strapped to. She pressed her tongue against the roof of her dry mouth and swallowed, wishing desperately that she had some water. Her forehead throbbed again, and she felt dizzy. She only barely made out Ben's response as she drifted back into unconsciousness.

 _Mustafar,_ Ben said. _Rey, they're taking you to Mustafar._

….

"I can't hear her anymore," Ben informed the faces surrounding him, his gaze drifting down to the table he sat upon. He shook his head, his hair sliding down over one eye. "She must not be conscious."

"We'll get to her, Ben," Luke said, clearly doing his best to sound reassuring.

"Alright, well," Finn announced as he reentered the ship's central room, taking a chug from a thermos. "Here goes nothing."

Luke scowled at Finn, then eyed his drink. "What's that?"

Finn raised his eyebrows as he looked down at the thermos. "Well, it was supposed to be for _him,_ but I decided I could maybe use some too…" he trailed.

Luke released a heavy sigh and turned back to his nephew. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"It's my only choice," Ben asserted.

After taking a long swig of the alcohol, Ben thought of Rey, only Rey as he laid back down and Finn stepped up to the side of the table. He let his awareness of his surroundings grow lax as Luke helped Finn ready the medical tools. He fixated on the ship's ceiling, imagining Rey's face before him, her bright eyes, her stunning smile, the tiny freckles that dotted her nose.

He cringed and hissed as Finn wiped a cold, stinging substance along his upper arm.

"To clean the area," Finn explained, but Ben was barely listening. He shut his eyes hard as the others continued to talk.

"And we're sure there's no anesthetic or anything?" Luke asked, and Chewie grumbled in response. "I'd have thought with all of his injuries from smuggling, Han'd have kept something like that here."

"Alright, 3PO," Finn stated.

" _Me?_ Oh, my."

"C'mon, just–get it over with. I'm going up front," Luke grumbled. "On second thought, before I do that, is there any of that left? Thanks."

Ben hissed in pain as a cold metal hand pressed his shoulder down flush to the table. "My apologies, Master Ben," 3PO said. "This–this shouldn't hurt a bit…"

Ben's breathing sped up as he heard Finn fiddling with the medical tools nearby. Too nervous to keep his eyes closed, he focused on the ceiling light above him. He was reminded of his and Rey's first kiss, her face bathed in the light of the fire. He remembered his initial shock as she pressed her lips to his, then his wanting more as she pulled away.

A glint of silver at Ben's left distracted him from his reverie.

"Even after what you did to me on Starkiller, I still don't want to do this," Finn explained.

Ben huffed out a breath, meeting Finn's sympathizing eyes. He gave him a brief nod. "We have to do this. For Rey."

Finn nodded resolutely back. "For Rey."

Ben managed to close his eyes again, drifting back into the memory of his first kiss with Rey: her leaning towards him, her eyes focused on his. His conscious realization that he loved her, thoroughly and irrevocably, before their lips even met.

"Hold his shoulder still, 3PO. Just like that."

Chewbacca let out a worried mewl.

Ben remembered his astonishment at the softness of Rey's lips against his, the warmth of her breath. The silk of her cheek on his fingertips as he cupped her face. He flexed his two functional fingers on his injured arm in response to the memory, for the last time.

Ben's eyes shot open at the heavy, wet _crunch_ of severance. The pain was delayed a silent moment, but it came in a white-hot shock.

" _Maker!"_

… _._

Rey jolted awake, her breathing heavy. She felt like she'd been asleep for hours–maybe she had been. Her right shoulder was throbbing with a vengeance. She blew air up at her forehead, feeling cold sweat beading at her hairline. What happened?

She turned to the side as she heard a crackling voice over a radio communicator. A stormtrooper, armed with a blaster, stood against the storage room's door.

"Got it," the trooper responded to his communicator. His helmet swivelled in her direction, and he brought the communicator to his helmet again. "The prisoner is awake. I've got my eye on her."

There was a hint of familiarity to the trooper's voice, but Rey couldn't pinpoint it. She groaned as her forehead throbbed again, and she shut her eyes, trying to recall everything that had happened. Her heart rose to her throat as she remembered Ben sprawled on the ground on the island, one of his arms a bloody, mangled mess. Luke was crouched by him, protecting him. The last thing she remembered was being dragged away, and now...now she was strapped to a metal chair, not unlike the interrogation chair Ben had strapped her to when he'd initially kidnapped and interrogated her.

 _Ben, Ben,_ she called through the Force.

 _Rey! I'm here, I'm here. Please, tell me you're alright!_

 _I'm fine,_ she responded, eyeing the trooper to her side. _They've got a stormtrooper watching over me, but I should make quick work of him._ She let out a long breath. _You're okay too, right?_

 _I–I've been better, but I'm alright,_ Ben answered. _Don't worry, Love, we're coming for you._

 _I'm not worried,_ she assured matter-of-factly, scanning the room again. _If I had to guess, I'd say I'm on some sort of old transport ship. The tech looks out of date. And this storage room is way too small to be on something like a star destroyer._

 _Well, you would know, Scavenger._

 _Are you still on Ach-To with Luke?_ Rey asked. With no ship to communicate through, it could take days–weeks–before the Order of Organa would know to come and rescue them.

 _No, we're on the Falcon,_ Ben explained. _Your friends brought it here to save us, they had pilots tracking the Empire ships as they came to attack._ He paused. _I'm so sorry, Rey. So sorry. I couldn't–_ Another pause. _I can't believe I couldn't protect you. Kriff–_

 _Ben, stop,_ Rey urged. _You did your best, more than anyone else could have done. You dove off of that the cliff, knowing I couldn't swim–you saved my life!_

Rey grimaced as something heavy and intruding seeped its way between their connection.

 _Ben?_

 _Rey, I think–_

Their connection seemed blocked, fragmented. Rey felt a rising well of anger, and she grit her teeth, seething. She waited a few moments, sucking in a breath as she finally heard Ben again.

 _It's Snoke–Don't–reach...to me for now, it's not safe. I–_

Rey couldn't hear the rest of his thoughts, and she groaned in frustration, knocking her fists back against the chair as much as he was able. She sighed in resignation, looking down at her strapped wrists and ankles. Snoke would have to wait. Her first order of business was getting herself out of this chair.

….

Ben sat patiently as Finn and Luke fussed with his new metal arm. Luke noticed that he was staring at the wall ahead, refusing to look at it.

"No, no, like this," Luke said, focusing his attention on what Finn was doing. Luke tugged a wire at Ben's metal wrist with a pair of clipping tools. "There. You learn a thing or two about prosthetic mechanics when you live with one for long enough."

"My, that looks _splendid!"_ 3PO chimed.

"Because it's your own metal," Finn retorted, rolling his eyes. "Alright, Ben. Try the arm. Let's see if it works."

Luke met Ben's gaze for a moment, still taken aback by his nephew's self-sacrifice, by the fact that he would forever be burdened with the loss of touch in his right hand and arm. Luke shakily lifted his own metal hand, trying to wrap his mind around having his entire arm gone. He looked back across at Ben, who was watching him intently, questioningly.

Luke nodded reassuringly.

Slowly, Ben turned to look down at his new metal limb. He stiffened and lifted his right shoulder, inspecting the contraption.

"Go on, try it out," Luke encouraged him.

Ben's mouth opened as he lifted his metal hand and flexed his new fingers. "This is…"

"Weird, right?" Luke asked, and Ben nodded. Chewbacca released a noise of curiosity and stepped closer to inspect the arm, but Ben seemed to lose interest and slid from the table.

"We need to be on the lookout for Empire ships. How close are we to Mustafar?"

"Kylo–sorry, Ben–you need to rest and let everything heal, you need to let the wiring set," Finn explained, but Ben waved him off.

"I don't have time for that," he said, holding his metal arm out away from his body awkwardly. Luke looked down, seeing that his remaining human hand was trembling. "We need to get to Mustafar, and we need to get Rey. We need to make a plan. We need to–"

Ben was cut off as Luke stepped forward and pulled his nephew into a tight embrace. Slowly, shakily, Ben wrapped his arms around his uncle.

"We'll get her back, I promise," Luke said gently. He felt Ben release a heavy sigh against him. "But one thing at a time, okay?" He felt Ben's moistened face nod against his shoulder.

….

He saw the girl struggling against the prisoner chair in frustration.

"How are you holding up in there? You sure it's okay that I go on break?" DR-390's voice crackled through his communicator. He lifted the device to his helmet modulator.

"Everything's under control. If you're worried, you can come back, but it's fine. The prisoner is still asleep."

The girl swivelled her face to glare at him. "No I'm _not,"_ she seethed.

He watched as she focused her gaze on him, her fists tightening and her expression turning from anger to concentrated focus. He grimaced, sweat trickling down his face in his claustrophobic helmet as the girl attempted to break into his mind. He grunted with effort.

"You can't...do it," he asserted.

The girl stopped her mind-probe, giving him a perplexed expression. "What?"

He gathered his breath, pressing a gloved hand to the forehead of his helmet. "Only...a weak mind...can be broken," he recited, panting. He leaned against the side of the door frame for support.

The girl stared at him blankly, blinking. "How do you know that? Who told you that?"

"It's what I heard from the other troopers about Leader Snoke," he explained, straightening again.

Rey narrowed her eyes, focusing on him, but this time, not with the Force. "Do I know you?" Her gaze lowered, and she studied the ground, thinking. Her eyes widened as she looked back up to meet his through his helmet. "The stormtrooper that was stationed outside of my cell when I was being held on the _Finalizer._ AN-838. That's you, isn't it?"

"No." He pressed his hands to the side of his helmet and slid it off. "I'm Allan." He stepped to the control panel at his side and pressed a button, releasing the clamps from Rey's wrists and ankles. "And we don't have much time, but I'm going to get you out of here."

Rey stared down confusedly at her now-freed arms and legs. She looked back at Allan with a puzzled face. "But...why?"

He gave her his best smile, remembering the word she'd used to describe him after he'd saved her from that awful General Hux many months ago.

"Because," he said, "you're my friend."

* * *

To quote the master George Lucas himself, "Allan is the key to all of this."

Okay, maybe I misquoted, but I'm pretty sure that's what he said. Let's see if team #Rallen can manage to get out of this #strugglebus.

Meanwhile, looks like #newarmwhodis Ben Solo will be struggling to come to terms with his metal appendage. Good thing he has his uncle's experience with the #skywalkerspecial to help him on his way. He definitely takes after his mother's side of the family, but next chapter we might just dig a little into his paternal influence. #smugglersolo

Side note, the story's this close to being over. I think I keep saying that, that this time I mean it. So, hold tight. And as always, THANK YOU for being patient. I know I'm so bad about posting at regular intervals, and you're welcome to throw tomatoes at me from the comment section if you feel the need.


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